China's first deep-sea aquaculture platform will begin construction
Recently, the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Beiche Ship and Marine Engineering Development Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Chonghe Industrial Co., Ltd. signed a tripartite strategic cooperation agreement in Beijing, marking that China's first deep-sea aquaculture platform project has entered a stage of substantive advancement.
It is understood that China's aquaculture output currently accounts for 70% of the world total, making it a veritable major aquaculture country. However, as aquaculture space in China's inland areas and coastal waters is gradually squeezed by other industries and the water quality environment continues to deteriorate, the future growth space of the aquaculture industry is cause for concern.
The “large deep-sea aquaculture platform” jointly and independently developed by the above units is converted from a 100,000-tonne Aframax tanker and can provide nearly 80,000 cubic meters of aquaculture water volume. Relying on a system platform formed by four major functional modules - the whole-ship platform, seedling hatching and aquaculture, logistics and processing, and digital information management and control - it can meet the needs of marine aquaculture within a water depth of 3,000 m, while also having multiple superior functions including resistance to super typhoons of force 12 or above. The platform also focuses on auxiliary functions such as coastal defense, material supply for ocean-going fishing vessels, seafood transfer and processing, warehousing and logistics, and emergency response and rescue, with the aim of comprehensively supporting China's marine resource industrialization strategy.
Academician Lei Jilin of the Chinese Academy of Engineering believes that the key to developing deep-sea aquaculture is safe and reliable facilities and equipment. The construction of this “large deep-sea aquaculture platform” is based on technologies such as China's industrialized aquaculture, marine engineering equipment, and catch fishing and processing, and carries out system integration and model innovation, demonstrating China's research, development and manufacturing capabilities in facilities and equipment for ultra-large deep-sea aquaculture platforms and the foresight of its strategic layout. The construction of this platform is expected to be combined with fishing vessels to form an “aircraft carrier fleet” that roams the deep sea and oceans and continuously carries out fishery production.