With much pomp and ceremony, a giant yellow fish cage was recently tugged into place in Ningde, China to replace thousands of seawater aquaculture facilities in a CNY 150 million (USD 21.8 million, EUR 19.4 million) renovation program.
Ningde, on China’s southeast coast in Fujian Province, is the latest area in China to see the installation of a large-scale deep-water fish farming operation.
The Chinese government has thrown its support behind the Ningde project, along with several other projects, including a salmon farm in the Yellow Sea near Rizhao, and a set of platforms in the waters near Nan'ao Island, on the border between Fujian and Guangdong provinces in the southwestern Taiwan Strait.
As a way to promote offshore aquaculture projects, the Chinese government is working to align large seafood firms with cash and innovation programs housed in state research academies. One prominent recent example of this kind of tie-up is the Yantai Ocean Farming Industry Science & Technology Innovation Alliance, which was established by combining academics, seafood industry executives, and government officials. Several other similar entities have been set up around the country this year.
Local TV cameras filmed Li Yong Jun, the head of the Yantai Science & Technology Office, as gave the opening speech during the ceremony launching the alliance.
“China will dominate [the] offshore aquaculture equipment sector,” he declared.
Li values the sector worth an annual CNY 23.9 billion (USD 3.5 billion, EUR 3.1 billion) for Yantai – a figure that encompasses equipment as well as industries like biotechnology and tourism.
“It’s a strategic industry,” Li said.
In addition to its economic value, offshore aquaculture has presented several other advantages for China. The new high-tech cages have replaced hundreds, if not thousands, of ragtag installations, many of them made of Styrofoam and plastic buoys which polluted local waters.
And in a surprise to local officials, the platforms have become tourist attractions.
Photo courtesy of Ningde National Agriculture Science Park
