Rugao Goldfish Go Abroad, Greenhouse Farming Becomes a Treasure Bowl

The picture shows award-winning goldfish varieties.

The picture shows the breeding base.

Recently, good news came from the Municipal Agriculture Committee: at the just-concluded 2015 10th International Aquarium Exhibition Goldfish Judging Competition and Goldfish Culture Exhibition, the Butterfly Tail goldfish submitted by a breeder in our city stood out among the rest and won multiple awards including five golds and one bronze. When the reporter arrived at the home of Shi Bolin, chairman of the Changdie Ornamental Fish Cooperative, he was placing the shining gold medals into a display cabinet. Row upon row of medals and trophies in the cabinet record his more than 20 years of fish farming.

In recent years, Shuangqun Community in Dongchen Town has vigorously developed ornamental fish farming, and the colorful fish have opened up a path to prosperity for the villagers here. Shi Bolin's ornamental fish are very famous in the market. "There is a strong market for ornamental fish now, especially since we also have quite a few high-end varieties, so there is no worry at all about sales." In Shi Bolin's fish farming greenhouse, red-and-white fish swim nimbly, and the whole pond looks just like a "treasure bowl."

In 2011, when the Changdie Ornamental Fish Cooperative was established, Shi Bolin introduced more than 10 varieties including "Rugao Butterfly Tail," koi, and pearlscale. Over the years, more and more fish ponds were dug, and the varieties of goldfish also increased. Thanks to these colorful and beautiful goldfish, Shi Bolin's life became more and more prosperous. "These are all our local brand Butterfly Tail. We breed and raise them ourselves, and they are very popular in the market," Shi Bolin introduced. Ornamental fish farming has long been nothing new in Dongchen Town. As profits increased, Shi Bolin's farming scale also continued to expand, and many villagers followed him in raising ornamental fish, with very considerable economic returns.

Having raised ornamental fish for more than 20 years and with a wide variety of species, Shi Bolin's ornamental fish have become famous far and wide thanks to his rich experience. They are not only supplied to the domestic market, but customers from places such as Indonesia and Singapore also come to place orders. "Participating in ornamental fish competitions is also to promote Rugao's local brand and make it famous!" Shi Bolin said. With many years of farming experience, Shi Bolin can now be considered one of the top fish farming experts in Rugao. Although he is a man approaching 50, he can move freely among the narrow fish ponds. Shi Bolin said that this batch of award-winning fish was already sold on site, and fish of the same variety as the award-winning ones have also been reserved and will be shipped in a few days. Thanks to winning major awards in ornamental fish "beauty contests," Rugao Butterfly Tail has aroused the interest of many foreign fish hobbyists. Goldfish farmers have also discovered business opportunities from this, and Rugao Butterfly Tail began to take an international route, with its value multiplying several times over.

At the cooperative, the reporter saw workers selecting Butterfly Tail goldfish of different standards. Every fish had been carefully measured, with different requirements for appearance and color. The staff told the reporter that goldfish are generally sold by the piece, so they are graded by size; the larger the size, the higher the price. Through competition after competition, Rugao Butterfly Tail is being recognized by more and more people at home and abroad, and fish hobbyists come from all over the world, which brings direct economic benefits to the farmers.

"In the past, when selling at our doorstep, we did not know the market outside. Some sold for 15 yuan each, but now they have reached 200 yuan each," Shi Bolin said. From two years ago to now, the number of Butterfly Tail goldfish he raises has hardly changed, but sales have already tripled. At present, his Butterfly Tail is mainly sold wholesale to Southeast Asian countries, mainly Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. In the future, he plans to use the internet model to connect more with the higher-priced European and American markets.