<p>Fisheries and aquaculture are critical to global food security, providing a critical and economically accessible protein source to fulfill the rapidly rising global population’s food needs. Digital financial inclusion (DFI), as a core component of the knowledge economy, provides accessible, efficient, and reasonably priced financial services through digital technologies while facilitating information exchange and learning. Nevertheless, a proper theoretical and empirical understanding of how DFI influences the growth of the fishing economy through knowledge and innovation channels is absent. Employing the panel data covering 31 provincial regions in China during the 2011–2020 period, the research assesses the effect of DFI on the gross value of fishery output. It turns out that digital finance and its components can increase fishery output value. This finding is robust across endogenous and robustness checks. The mechanism examination indicates that funding for fishery extension personnel, as an important vehicle for digital learning and knowledge diffusion, mediates this relationship. Drawing from these findings, policy suggestions are put forward to explore the use of DFI further and drive long-term growth of fisheries within the knowledge economy.</p>