Ocean fertilization is the intentional introduction of nutrient elements to certain region of the upper ocean to enhance primary productivity. It has potential to increase sustainable fish catch and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The study of ocean fertilization has lasted for 20 years, and the concept has extended from iron fertilization for mitigating climate change to macronutrient nourishment for storing carbon while at the same time increasing marine protein production. However, no such study has ever been undertaken in China and understanding of the concept is incomplete. An effort was made in this paper to introduce the concepts and principles of micronutrient iron fertilization and macronutrient nitrogen and phosphorus nourishment. The history and recent progress in the study of ocean fertilization, as well as disputes over its application were also reviewed. Examination of the debate over a low fraction of new primary production sinking as particulate organic carbon leads to the suggestion that the most flows through the food web and ocean fertilization may have a greater potential for increasing sustainable fish catch. The potential of macronutrient nourishment for fishery development in the oligotrophic South China Sea was further explored. In the central South China Sea basin, there is abundant heat and sunlight in the euphotic zone, but the phytoplankton primary productivity is very low. The biological productivity is strongly limited by available macronutrients because of permanent stratification. It was suggested that intentional introduction of macronutrient elements could help to increase new primary production and hence sustainable fish catch. The enriched patch with a bloom of dietary plankton may serve to attract and concentrate fish schools. This would increase fishing efficiency for the dispersing oceanic species. Fish stocks in the coastal and shelf waters of the northern South China Sea are in a status of depletion and overfishing, respectively. Ocean fertilization in the oligotrophic South China Sea represents a potential opportunity to relieve heavy fishing pressure on the coastal and shelf stocks. Assuming continuation of the current policy of strict limits on the number of fishing licenses and total fishing horsepower, developing a fishery in the open sea with ocean fertilization would lead to partial relocation of fishing effort away from the heavily fished waters. In addition to the enhanced fish production in the open sea, this would correspond to a reduction in fishing pressure and a recovery growth in fish harvest in the coastal and shelf waters.