Prices of seafood in Shenzhen jumped around 10 percent over the past week due to the annual ban on fishing which began June 1.

Prices may rise again after June 15, when stocks of seafood run out, a spokesperson of the Buji Wholesale Market for Aquatic Products told the Daily Sunshine over the weekend.

All 320 of Shenzhen's boats stopped fishing at the beginning of the month for the break which will last until Aug. 1.

Fishermen will be fined up to 50,000 yuan (US$6,494) for fishing during the break, said Deng Weiqiang, an official in charge of fisheries in Shekou. "Thanks to the heavy penalty, nobody dares to break the rule," he said.

Each boat will receive at least a 1,000-yuan subsidy from the government during the layoff.

It is the ninth annual fishing break in the South China Sea which has seen fish stocks double during the past eight years, said Ma Shiliu, an official with the municipal fishery service center.

Editor: Yan