The annual fishing moratorium on the East China Sea will begin on May 1, according to the marine and fishery department of Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. 

Fishing boats equipped with trawls, crab traps, gill nets, surrounding nets and lift nets will not be allowed to work on the sea for at least three months.

Egg-carrying fish and crabs will be banned until Sept 16.

"There won't be any fresh seafood from the East China Sea during the moratorium, but there will still be frozen and imported sea food to supply the market," said an official from the department.

China has been enforcing an annual fishing moratorium on the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea since 1995, and on the South China Sea since 1999, a move that has alleviated the adverse effects of overfishing and preserved the fishing resources.