Jingzhou's shrimp and crab industry becomes the star of prosperity, boosting the development of the freshwater fishing capital

Since the beginning of autumn, the 3000 jin of yellow catfish in the pond of Yi Jihai, head of the Chonghu Fishery in Gong'an County, have once again been sold to South Korea under an exemption-from-inspection trademark. The lively, jumping fish, at a price of 16 yuan per jin, made Yi Jihai beam with joy.
    
     "This year, our Chonghu Fishery took yellow catfish as our flagship product and explored a high-efficiency farming model in which 1 mu of pond produces 800 jin of yellow catfish and 200 jin of Chinese softshell turtle, with an average output value of 20,000 yuan per mu and a net profit of 10,000 yuan. His family's 13.7 mu of ponds generate an annual net income of more than 100,000 yuan." He said that in the first half of this year they encountered a drought, but because the fisheries department promptly provided technical support and fine fry, the aquatic products are currently selling well. In the past, when farming the four major Chinese carps, a whole truckload of fish was worth only a little over 10,000 yuan; now just a few baskets of fish are worth that much.
    
     In the past, the four major Chinese carps accounted for more than 70% of the city's aquatic industry, but today six famous, special and superior products account for 60% of output value. Xiao Jiahao, director of the Jingzhou Municipal Fisheries Bureau, said that as Jingzhou's aquatic development continues to deepen, all counties and districts across the city have vigorously adjusted their aquaculture structure, gradually breaking the situation in which the four major Chinese carps dominated everything and letting the "shrimp soldiers and crab generals" play the leading roles on the aquatic industry stage. The six famous, special and superior products - crayfish, river crab, yellow eel, yellow catfish, turtles and softshell turtles, and mandarin fish - have gradually become synonymous with Jingzhou aquatic products and have also become the "stepping stone" to prosperity for fishermen.
    
     Around the six major species - crayfish, river crab, yellow eel, yellow catfish, turtles and softshell turtles, and mandarin fish - Jingzhou has actively explored and formed 8 major optimized farming models, including wild foster-rearing of crayfish and cage culture of yellow eel. Related to these are 10 major technologies, including artificial breeding, water quality regulation, and nano aeration. Of the 10 major farming models currently promoted throughout Hubei Province, many were first created in Jingzhou. These scientific farming models and technologies have made the promotion of famous, special and superior product farming twice as effective with half the effort.
    
     At Jingzhou Daming Aquatic Technology Co., Ltd., batches of silver carp and bighead carp are transported from the farming base at the Chonghu Fishery in Gong'an County, a major aquatic county. After more than a dozen processing steps, silver carp that sells for 2 yuan per jin increases in value fivefold and becomes fish meat products. 3 jin of silver carp can be processed into 1 jin of fish steak; the gross profit margin from selling fish directly versus selling fish steaks differs by 10 times, and the whole fish can be "used down to the last bit." Lei Chuansong, director of the technical center of Daming Aquatic, introduced that Jingzhou has now formed 3 premium aquatic product cluster bases: the Honghu farming belt, the Jiangnan farming belt, and the Changhu farming belt.
    
     Through the building of an "ecological fishing capital," green aquaculture brings golden benefits. Xiao Jiahao said that at present, the city's freshwater aquaculture area and output have ranked first among China's prefecture-level cities for many consecutive years. In August last year, the city was awarded the title of "China's No. 1 Freshwater Fisheries City" by the China Fisheries Association and was hailed as the "freshwater fishing capital." In 2010, the city's total aquaculture stocking area was 2.2 million mu, aquatic product output was 1.05 million tons, fisheries output value was 12.3 billion yuan, and fishermen's per capita net income was 9400 yuan.
    
     Also savoring the sweetness of ecological aquaculture is Cai Guangmao, a fisherman from Chengfeng Village in the Binhu Office of Honghu, whose family has 13 mu of fish ponds. The water in the ponds is all drawn from Honghu, and the pond water is so clear you can see the bottom, making it suitable for crab growth.
    
     Practicing clear-water aquaculture not only improves the pond farming environment but also reduces the amount of fry stocked. Cai Guangmao said, "Previously they sold for only a few yuan each on the market, but now they can sell for 120 yuan each at large supermarkets in Wuhan."
    
     Along with the clear-water aquaculture model, the Binhu Office also registered the "Honghu Clear Water" brand trademark, integrating 110,000 mu of river crab farming area and implementing standardized farming. "Honghu Clear Water" brand river crabs were also certified as green products by the China Green Food Development Center, and this year were also recognized as a China Well-Known Trademark.
    
     Today, through ecological aquaculture, a large number of high-quality green brand products such as "Bijiayu Du," "Qinglian Wugui," "Yuyue," "Jinliyu," and "Jingzhou Fish Cake" have successively entered the market. At present, Jingzhou has 138 certified pollution-free aquatic product production areas, covering 1.87 million mu, with 280 varieties bearing the pollution-free aquatic product mark and 6 varieties bearing the green food mark. The "Honghu Fisherman" ecological fish brand has become one of the 3 major aquatic product brands in Hubei Province.