Why are farmers mixed in joy and sorrow?, Xinjiang Seafood is Hot and Out of the Circle Xinjiang | Seafood | Farmers

Xinjiang, the farthest place from the sea, produces seafood, but its rapid development also faces some difficulties

Xinjiang's seafood is booming, why are farmers mixed in joy and sorrow?

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As the inland province farthest from the sea in China, Xinjiang, located in the desert and Gobi Desert, utilizes modern technology to "move" seafood here for a living, achieving a "two-way flow" between seafood and land aquaculture

In the golden autumn of September, "Xinjiang seafood" ushered in a Dafengshou (Salad of assorted fresh vegetables). Salmon, Australian lobster... Recently, Xinjiang seafood has become a hot topic on the Internet.

As the inland province farthest from the sea in China, Xinjiang, located in the desert and Gobi Desert, utilizes modern technology to move seafood here for a living, achieving a two-way flow between seafood and land aquaculture.

Seafood Moving, Technology First

"The technology of land-based seafood cultivation is very important, especially in terms of water quality. It needs to be continuously adjusted according to local conditions, desalination of salinity, and achieving the best breeding level in order to cultivate good aquatic products." said Feng Hui, General Manager of Alar City Hehui Ecological Aquaculture Co., Ltd., the First Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

The company's saline alkali water aquaculture base used to be the "Daluoba" drinking water source for residents in Shuangcheng, Liutuan. After three years of scientific breeding, it has now become a more than 200 acre South American white shrimp aquaculture base. Before each fishing, Feng Hui conducts water quality testing with people.

"The biggest challenge in raising shrimp in saline alkali land is to adjust the water quality. It is necessary to ensure that the pH value, salinity, and other indicators such as ammonia nitrogen and sub salts of the water quality meet the growth environment of South American white shrimp." Feng Hui said, "So keep monitoring the water quality and make adjustments at any time."

After all, allowing seafood to "move" to saline alkali land, aquaculture technology determines whether seafood can "settle down".

"The natural alkaline water quality of Maigaiti County, combined with refined management and scientific feeding, can cultivate plump and full-bodied Australian freshwater lobsters," said Wu Zhijun, a shrimp farmer at the Australian freshwater lobster experimental breeding base in Bazajimi Town, Maigaiti County, Kashgar.

Cultivating seafood on land is not easy, and it is even more difficult to cultivate aquatic products in the desert. How to retain water sources, reduce sand leakage, prevent soil alkalization, and reduce local pests are all problems that shrimp farmers need to face.

In 2021, the Rizhao City Aid Xinjiang Command in Shandong Province launched an aquaculture project in Maigaiti County, Xinjiang, and Wu Zhijun began learning shrimp farming techniques. After repeated experiments, it has been proven that Australian freshwater lobsters are most suitable for local aquaculture. After a year of learning and exploration, this year Wu Zhijun's lobsters have started to be brought to consumers' dining tables.

"Fisherman" becomes a new profession

"I used to be a farmer farming here, and working here not only allowed me to learn skills, but also earned me a salary. My wife and I can earn more than 6000 yuan per month," said Aimaiti Aimeer, an employee at the Australian Freshwater Lobster Experimental Breeding Base in Bazajimi Town, Magaiti County, Kashgar.

Maigaiti County is one of the 12 aquaculture counties in Kashgar region. In recent years, Kashgar region has vigorously promoted green and healthy aquaculture model technology, promoted ecological transformation of aquaculture ponds, and strengthened the demonstration of healthy aquaculture, promoting the green development of local aquaculture industry.

Lifting the net, retracting the net, putting it into the basket, loading and transporting it, one by one, full bodied and semi transparent South American white shrimp are bouncing around in the cage. Lei Tao, a customer from Dongfeng Huimin Market who arrived from Aksu City, rushed to buy live shrimp and took advantage of its freshness to sell on the market.

"A car can carry 50-60 kilograms, once a day, because it is a fresh shrimp, it is loved by locals," said Lei Tao.

According to Feng Hui, in May of this year, he released 11 million shrimp seedlings, which are now in the mature stage. From the fishing situation, it is expected that the minimum yield can reach 70 tons and the expected output value can reach 7 million yuan.

The seafood for moving is not only shrimp, but also salmon eggs from Denmark have settled in Nilek County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. After 10 years of development, Xinjiang Tianyun Organic Agriculture Co., Ltd., a leading local salmon enterprise, has established two breeding bases with an annual output of 3000 tons of salmon and is currently preparing to build one breeding base with an annual output of 5800 tons of salmon.

"It is expected that the salmon production will reach 6000 tons and the output value will reach 420 million yuan this year," said Zhang Xiu, the person in charge of Xinjiang Tianyun Organic Agriculture Co., Ltd. In addition to supplying the domestic market, it will also be exported to countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Solving transportation difficulties and reducing costs are key

While the fishery industry in Xinjiang is developing rapidly, it also faces some problems, such as short breeding cycles, high costs, single species, and high transportation costs. Industry insiders believe that solving transportation difficulties, reducing breeding costs, and improving seafood quality are the key to long-term development.

Wu Zhijun also faces the problem of high costs. He introduced that breeding Australian lobsters in Maigaiti County requires transporting shrimp seedlings back from outside Xinjiang. Although I chose to introduce shrimp seedlings from the nearest Anhui province, the survival rate is not high due to the long transportation distance. "We plan to build a greenhouse in winter, cultivate seedlings with black heads in advance, and wait for the external water temperature to be suitable before planting, which can reduce costs and increase yield," said Wu Zhijun.

"In recent days, customers from Chongqing and Chengdu have placed orders one after another." Looking at the orders outside Xinjiang, farmer Feng Hui was half happy and half worried. I am delighted that my own South American white shrimp has gone out of Xinjiang, and the market has become more open; The concern is that the transportation of fresh shrimp is still a problem, and even by air, there is a problem of high costs.

Feng Hui admitted that the sales of the South American white shrimp he raises are mainly located near Alar and Aksu cities. It will still be some time before other regions in Xinjiang want to taste authentic Xinjiang produced live shrimp. The cost of raising shrimp in Xinjiang is higher than that in Guangxi, Guangdong, Shandong and other places. In addition, transportation costs make the final price of shrimp more than ten to twenty yuan per kilogram compared to cities outside Xinjiang.

"For the price difference, we will further improve our aquaculture technology, increase the survival rate of shrimp fry, and enhance the quality of South American white shrimp, so that customers can buy value and eat well." Feng Hui said that for the transportation of fresh products, orders are all shipped by air, which has high costs. The railway and road fresh express transportation channels have not been opened yet, and we are also trying to find a solution now.

Industry experts point out that using saline alkali land and brackish water for aquaculture is a good thing, but seawater aquaculture and estuarine aquaculture are still difficult to easily replace.