Guangxi holds fish auction to help ease poverty

A brown spotted grouper weighing 91 kilograms was sold for 708,888 yuan ($101,111) in Beihai, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in an auction held at a local fish market on Sunday.

The auction is part of a series of activities to welcome the fishing season after a 108-day fishing moratorium.

Except for the grouper, the auction also included a shrimp, a crab, a Chinese silver pomfret, a mackerel and a tuna. All of them were bid on at prices of over 30,000 yuan.

Local residents believe that the first fish marking the beginning of the season could bring good luck and fortune for them throughout the whole year.

According to the local publicity department, this auction has altogether brought in more than 1.1 million yuan and the money will be used to help with local poverty reduction work.

Huang Rui contributed to the story