In 1988, the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced the Vannamei shrimp to China. In 1992, the nursery barrier has been broken and the Vannamei farming developed throughout China. At present, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Zhejiang, Shandong, Hebei have gradually promoted farming. The Vannamei shrimp farmed in Yangjiabo Town, Hangu District, Tianjin is worldwide famous making this district gaining the reputation of the “Hometown of Chinese Fish and Shrimp”.
Since the development of the large-scale farming of Vannamei shrimp in China in 2000, China’s marine aquaculture production has been showing an upward trend. However, with the saturation of the Chinese shrimp market and the introduction of other shrimp species, the growth rate of Vannamei marine aquaculture production began to slow down.
In 2016, the China’s marine aquaculture production of Vannamei was 932,297 tons, an increase of 39,115 tons compared to 2015, meaning a growth of 4.38%. By 2019, China’s South American white shrimp marine aquaculture production was 1,144,370 tons, an increase of 26,836 tons compared to 2018, – a 2.4% rise. The growth rate has slowed down significantly.
The farming areas of Vannamei shrimp are mainly located in the Eastern coastal regions. Fujian, Guangdong, Shandong, and Hainan provinces farmed 443.127 billion, 432.1 billion, 336.8 billion, and 190.9 billion Vannamei shrimps, respectively, accounting for 29.4%, 28.7%, and 22.3% of the total production. The four provinces accounted for 93.1% of the national production, occupying an absolute dominant position, with obvious geographical advantages.
The trends of China’s Vannamei aquaculture industry.
Traditional pond aquaculture requires complex supporting infrastructure projects, large area for the fishponds, and significant water resources. The pollution is also large.
Farming factories could increase density by water recycling or semi-circular utilization, save land and water resources in three dimensions, and reduce water pollution. At this stage farming factories has introduced intelligent control systems to ensure the water quality of the entire farming process. Intelligent control is also used for feeding.
In general, farming factories are turning less polluting as more intelligent technologies and process are involved.
