“This is another bumper year. It’s estimated that the output of a fishing platform will reach about 600,000 kilograms each time,” said Lin Caixi, deputy general manager of Hainan Pusheng Marine Technology Development Co., Ltd., at a marine ranch in Ledong Li Autonomous County, south China’s Hainan Province.
“That’s equivalent to the total fish harvest of hundreds of small fishing boats in a year. In the past, we relied on the weather for food, but now we develop modern intelligent aquaculture,” said Fu Tianyou, director of Wanglougang neighborhood community, Jiusuo township, Ledong county.
About eight nautical miles from Longqi Bay in Jiusuo township, Pusheng Marine Ranch No. 3 is anchored in the azure sea. Being 86 meters long and 30 meters wide, it is the second intelligent deep-sea and far-sea aquaculture and tourism platform in Hainan.
The marine ranch can withstand up to a category-17 super typhoon, said Lin, whose company operates the marine ranch.
The marine ranch’s intelligent monitoring system, which features automatic feeding, water quality monitoring, ocean current and meteorological monitoring, collects data like water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll. The data generated from the intelligent marine ranch is transmitted in real-time to experts for reference, who will then formulate science-based aquaculture plans for the next stage.
“We also built an artificial fish reef into the submarine landscape around the marine ranch,” Lin said.
“The marine ranch is also a green platform. Equipped with seawater desalination facilities and wastewater treatment equipment, it can effectively treat wastewater and desalinate seawater,” Lin added.
In 2023, Pusheng’s marine ranches were listed among the 8th batch of national-level marine ranch demonstration zones announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, becoming the only one in Hainan Province.
“This meant that our green and intelligent marine ranches will help Hainan take bolder steps to develop deep-sea aquaculture,” said Ji Chengwen, chairman of Hainan Pusheng Marine Technology Development Co., Ltd.
Ji said the company will further expand its scale, and output is expected to reach 4 million kilograms this year. In addition to Pusheng Marine Ranch No. 1 and Pusheng Marine Ranch No. 3, which are already in operation, a new comprehensive aquaculture platform that combines sightseeing, leisure, and fishery will be added this year.
Marine fishery enjoys bright prospects in this sea area, Ji said, adding that Pusheng will put 50 truss-type net cages and four comprehensive platforms into use in this sea area so that its annual output will hit 20 million kilograms. The company will also accelerate the construction of onshore factories to engage in the deep processing of aquatic products and other businesses. These facilities are expected to reach the design capacity within five years, with an estimated annual output value of around 2.7 billion yuan ($373.2 million).