Hainan's 2,204 Deep-Water Cages Help Fishermen Get Rich Through Aquaculture
The 15 members of the Hainan Lingao County Sea Sturgeon Deep-Sea Aquaculture Cooperative have tasted the sweetness of deep-water cage aquaculture. Since the cooperative was established in July 2008, with the support of relevant departments, its deep-water cage aquaculture scale has grown ever larger. It now owns 146 storm-resistant deep-sea cages with a circumference of 40 m and 30 with a circumference of 80 m, with working capital of more than 20 million yuan. As of last year, it had farmed 3.6 million jin of marketable fish, with a net profit of 5.6 million yuan. This is a microcosm of deep-water cage aquaculture in Hainan Province. At present, the province has deployed 2,204 deep-water cages, 812 more than last year, with an estimated total output of 22,607 tons.
Relevant experts say that deep-water cages have become a "waterborne bank" for fishermen to increase their income. Experts believe that the advantages of deep-water cage aquaculture are large farming capacity, fewer diseases, high output and strong wind resistance, making it a new model of healthy aquaculture.
Fish Farmers Reel In Gold and Silver From the Deep
On the deep blue sea, huge circular cages are scattered about, and schools of cobia and golden pompano float at the surface, scrambling to peck at food, lively and jumping, creating a spectacular scene. This is what a Hainan Daily reporter saw today at the Lingao Houshui Bay deep-water cage aquaculture base.
"In the past two years, Lingao County has fully seized the favorable opportunity of national financial support for the development of modern fisheries and accelerated the development of deep-water cage aquaculture. At present, the county has 1,950 cages and has built the country's largest deep-water cage aquaculture base," introduced Huang Liangzan, deputy director of the Provincial Department of Ocean and Fisheries.
Fu Ke, head of the Lingao County Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, introduced that at present more than 220 households in the county participate in deep-water cage aquaculture, with very considerable returns.
Xian Guanghui, a fish farmer in Xincun Port, Lingshui, is very optimistic about the prospects of deep-water cage aquaculture. He said that each deep-water cage produces at least 10 tons on average, and the input-output ratio is about 1:1.3, that is, an investment of 100,000 yuan can earn 30,000 yuan.
The head of the Lingshui Li Autonomous County Ocean and Fisheries Bureau introduced that last year the county's 96 cages sold 1,195 tons of marketable fish, with revenue of 59.75 million yuan and a net profit of 11.68 million yuan.
Governments at All Levels Give Full Support Without Ambiguity
Hainan Province began experimental deep-water cage aquaculture in 1998. After more than 10 years of exploration and development, deep-water cage aquaculture has now entered a fast track of development.
"The rapid development of deep-water cages in recent years has benefited from the injection of modern agricultural production development funds," said Zhao Zhongshe, director of the Provincial Department of Ocean and Fisheries.
Because deep-water cages require a relatively large one-time investment, ordinary fish farmers find them hard to afford. In order to speed up the development of Hainan Province's deep-water cage aquaculture industry, the Hainan provincial government has allocated more than 7 million yuan in fiscal funds in recent years to support fish farmers in building cages. In 2008, Hainan Province listed deep-water cage aquaculture in Lingao Houshui Bay as a provincial tropical modern agricultural production development demonstration project, and for two consecutive years arranged a total of 31.28 million yuan in special central fiscal funds for modern agricultural production development, supporting the county in building 664 deep-water cages and 10 auxiliary work boats, solving the problem of insufficient funds for individual fishermen.
Up to now, governments at all levels have provided 38.03 million yuan in support funds for deep-water cage aquaculture, injecting vitality into the deep-water cage aquaculture industry.
At present, Hainan Province's deep-water cage aquaculture bases are mainly distributed in the Lingao Houshui Bay base (962 cages), the Jinpai base (988 cages), the Lingshui Xincun base (126 cages), the Sanya West Island base (112 cages), Changjiang (12 cages) and Haikou (4 cages). They mainly farm golden pompano, cobia and grouper.
Zhao Zhongshe said that developing deep-water cage aquaculture is an important measure for our province to transform the fishery development mode and promote the strategic adjustment of the fishery economic structure, enabling aquaculture to shift from inner bays to offshore waters and achieving fishery efficiency gains and fishermen's income growth.