Sturgeon King Wei Zinian Gets Rich by Farming Fish

"I sell as much as I have, and I never worry about finding buyers!" Speaking of his fish products selling so well, Wei Zinian, the "Sturgeon King" of Bagong Town, Jinchengjiang District, could not hide his delight. "Last year, I sold about 200,000 jin of market-size fish, with sales of more than 5 million yuan and net income of more than 2 million yuan..."

Wei Zinian, now in his early 40s, comes from Huanjiang. He grew up by the river and has always made his living by fishing and farming fish.

In 2008, after many years of fish farming, he happened to hear a friend say that sturgeon sold very well on the market, and that the price of caviar was even more precious than gold. He immediately had the idea of farming sturgeon.

Young and fearless, he acted as soon as he decided. Wei Zinian came to Dahua, building a farm while learning sturgeon farming techniques. In the autumn of 2008, he spent 100,000 yuan to buy 20,000 sturgeon fry from Dalian in one go and began farming sturgeon.

However, his fish-farming path was not smooth sailing. Because he had no experience in transporting fry over long distances or in farming sturgeon, the survival rate of the fry was only 50%, and after selling them all, he ended up losing more than 100,000 yuan. This setback left Wei Zinian, who had just "entered the trade," deeply shaken, but he did not give up.

In early 2013, after several years of dedicated study, Wei Zinian opened up a new battleground again, coming to Bagong Town in Jinchengjiang District to build fish ponds and continue farming sturgeon.

In the days that followed, Wei Zinian often sought out veterans to learn from and searched for information online. He also attended practical technical training sessions held by the district's aquatic and animal husbandry and veterinary department, and with what he gradually grasped through practice, his sturgeon farming techniques kept maturing. Bagong Town also listed Wei Zinian's aquaculture demonstration site and other large farming operations as "science and technology contact households," pairing them with aquatic and animal husbandry science and technology personnel in a "science and technology marriage" to provide "zero-distance" technical services at any time, so that farmers could master solid skills in farming and disease prevention, quickly putting sturgeon farming on the "right track."

After 4 months of effort, he invested 1.5 million yuan and built a 700 sq m building and 7,000 sq m of breeding ponds, and bought 33 fiberglass fry-rearing tanks. In April 2013, production officially began. Afterwards, he bought more than 400,000 sturgeon fry. Thanks to his sound techniques, by the end of that year Wei Zinian had successfully sold 50,000 jin of sturgeon, making a profit of more than 500,000 yuan.

"Now I can basically judge fish diseases with 90% accuracy, and the final survival rate of each batch of fry can reach as high as 97%," Wei Zinian said confidently.

Sturgeon have relatively high water quality requirements, even demanding the harsh conditions of "no industrial pollution whatsoever and a constant year-round temperature below 20 degrees." It happens that Bagong's pure "mountain spring water" provides uniquely favorable advantages for farming.

"Now I raise about 200,000 fry each year and sell 200,000 jin of market-size fish, at about 23 to 25 yuan per jin. Sales are about 5 or 6 million yuan," Wei Zinian said with a smile. It is reported that his farm can raise more than 400,000 fry each year, with an output value of 1.26 million yuan.

Because sturgeon are in short supply, he can only arrange the farming density in each pond to the maximum. At present, he is rushing to expand his farming scale, having built more than 100 cages on the nearby river surface and preparing to put in 300,000 sturgeon fry.

Wei Zinian said he plans to develop a sturgeon farming cooperative, providing high-quality fry to surrounding farmers, offering free farming techniques to cooperative farmers, buying back adult fish, and guaranteeing sales channels, implementing a "base + farmers" farming model so that more fellow villagers can join him in realizing the dream of getting rich by farming sturgeon. The cooperative aims to reach an annual output value of 10 million yuan.

He also plans to combine sturgeon farming with leisure tourism. By the Bagong River, visitors can watch the fish, fish for them, and relax, and they can also taste a "sturgeon feast."