Yang Lixiong: The First Person to Successfully Cultivate Sea Cucumbers in Fuzhou

Citizens can now enjoy locally cultivated sea cucumbers! A reporter learned yesterday that the sea cucumbers cultivated by Fuqing Hongfengtai Sea Delicacy Cultivation Company have fully hit the market. Yang Lixiong, a native of Fuqing, returned home to start a business and devoted himself to research for 3 years, finally becoming the first person to successfully cultivate sea cucumbers in Fuzhou.

   Yesterday, the reporter arrived at the base of Fuqing Hongfengtai Sea Delicacy Cultivation Company in Niutouwei, Niufeng Village, Shapu Town, and saw neatly arranged square sea cucumber cultivation ponds whose walls were covered with seaweed. "This seaweed is the 'nutritious meal' for the sea cucumbers," Yang Lixiong explained.

A 150-gram sea cucumber is worth more than 30 yuan.

   Yang Lixiong scooped a sea cucumber from the cultivation pond and weighed it at about 150 grams (as shown in the photo). He said this batch of sea cucumbers was growing well, with individuals averaging from 50 grams at the seedling stage to over 150 grams, and they had been gradually hitting the market, mainly sold to hotels in Fuzhou, Xiamen and other places, with very broad market prospects. "Sea cucumbers fetch a high price. This one in my hand can sell for more than 30 yuan," Yang Lixiong said.

   Speaking of his entrepreneurial journey, Yang Lixiong joked that he was the first person daring to eat "crab." He told the reporter that he was originally a salesman for Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd., and before 2005, he often traveled to factories and construction sites in Fuzhou. "Because of factors such as poor networking connections, I was not doing well as a salesman. The work was tiring, and I could barely make a living," Yang Lixiong recalled.

   In 2005, he heard that his hometown had begun developing Niutouwei Wharf. As a native of Niutouwei, Yang Lixiong was fully aware that this sea area had unique advantages for cultivating marine products. So he did not hesitate to quit his job and return home to cultivate abalone, sea cucumbers and other sea delicacies. At the time, many people were skeptical of his idea, because the sea cucumber is an aquatic product with very high cultivation technical requirements, high initial investment and high investment risk, and there was no precedent for successful sea cucumber cultivation in Fuzhou.

   But Yang Lixiong refused to believe it could not be done and acted as soon as he decided. The biggest challenges in cultivating sea cucumbers were the cultivation environment, technology and capital. In the early trial cultivation stage, he invited aquatic experts from Dalian and other places to survey the sea area of Xinghua Bay at Niutouwei. The experts unanimously agreed that this sea area had excellent conditions for cultivating sea cucumbers, which further strengthened Yang Lixiong's confidence in cultivation.

   With the cultivation conditions in place, Yang Lixiong humbly sought advice from farmers in Dalian, Qingdao and other places who had already achieved success, learning cultivation techniques. Through continuous learning, he finally mastered the cultivation methods. In 2005, Yang Lixiong introduced seedlings from Dalian and invested 5 million yuan to begin cultivating abalone and sea cucumbers.

   Hard work pays off. In 2007, Yang Lixiong succeeded in cultivating abalone. In May last year, the company's Muyu Island base and Niutouwei base began trial cultivation of sea cucumbers; in early May this year, the trial cultivation was a complete success, and the sea cucumbers gradually hit the market.

   Gao Yong, Party Secretary of Shapu Town, introduced that the success of the sea cucumber trial cultivation filled the gap in artificial cultivation of this sea delicacy product in the Fuzhou area. In the future, sea cucumber cultivation will become a new economic growth point for marine aquaculture in Shapu Town. Next, the town will further support enterprise development, build sales platforms for enterprises, and enable locally produced sea cucumbers to enter major restaurants in our city.