Against the backdrop of global geopolitical instability and domestic economic challenges, the development of the digital economy plays a crucial role in industrial upgrading and has significantly influenced the resilience of the fishery economy. Under the combined influence of internal and external factors, the development of the fisheries economy faces severe challenges. In order to adjust the industrial structure as quickly as possible and maintain stable economic output in the face of environmental shocks, exploring ways to enhance the resilience of the fisheries economy is a topic of practical significance. This study uses panel data from 2013 to 2022 covering ten coastal provinces in China to investigate the impact of digital economy development on fishery economic resilience. The empirical analysis yields the following key findings: First, the development level of the digital economy has a significant positive effect on enhancing fishery economic resilience. Second, the digital economy improves resilience by facilitating industrial structure upgrading. These conclusions remain robust after replacing the core explanatory variables, excluding abnormal years, applying winsorization, and using instrumental variable methods. Third, the positive impact of digital economy development on fishery economic resilience is more pronounced in economically underdeveloped regions and provinces with limited freshwater resources. This study systematically validates for the first time the significant promoting effect of digital economic development on the resilience of the fisheries economy and the mediating role of industrial structure upgrading in this process, expanding the application boundaries of digital economy research in the resilience of specific industries. In addition, through heterogeneity analysis based on regional development levels and resource abundance, this paper provides empirical evidence for formulating differentiated policies tailored to local conditions.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.