China investing heavily in deepwater mariculture centered in Dinghai Bay

Sweeping sea views from a hotel window, with a steaming cup of coffee on a glass table, are not images one typically associated with a deepwater fish farming facility, but that’s exactly how Chinese news outlets have advertised the new Min Tou Number 1 fish farm, billing the facility as the future of Chinese mariculture.

The footage from the Min Tou Number 1 platform, shown on provincial and national broadcast news recently, depicts the facility as a combined “deepwater mariculture” fish farm and hotel on a platform off the Fujian coast in southeastern China. Located in Dinghai Bay near the city of Fuzhou, the facility aims to be a “smart automated” platform that has potential revenue streams in fish farming, tourism, and research.

The facility – with annual production estimated at 600 metric tons (MT) – uses solar and hydropower generated from tidal waves as its electricity sources. 

As another sustainability measure, four facility vessels transport sewage water ashore for purification, facility manager Xu Hang told a Fujian broadcast network.

Continuing a trend of Chinese aquaculture facilities doubling as tourist draws, Hang advertised the Min Tou Number 1 platform as a fun place to visit.

“You can feed fish, you can catch fish, and you can stay overnight looking at the ocean,” Hang said.

The facility epitomizes the country’s push toward developing innovative technology in sectors it believes are on the rise – two of which are mariculture and renewable energy.

Chinese government policies have actively encouraged the expansion of deepwater mariculture in the country as a way to remove near-shore aquaculture facilities often blamed for pollution, while also establishing China as a world leader in a future-forward field.

Speaking at a mariculture conference in the southern city of Sanya on 19 June, Ceng Hao, the head of aquaculture regulation at the Chinese agriculture ministry, said he wants to see …

Photo courtesy of Mintou Deep Sea Aquaculture Equipment Leasing Company