1st batch of domestic salmon a cultivation success

The first batch of salmon cultivated in the open, warm waters of the Yellow Sea was collected and processed on Monday, signifying that Chinese consumers can enjoy domestic salmon products soon.

Market insiders said the milestone represents China's strong capability to cultivate high-value fish on a large scale and the country's deep-sea aquaculture will evolve toward an intelligent, environmentally friendly business.

Around 3,000 salmon were collected from the Shenlan 1, China's first deep-sea fish farm in Qingdao, Shandong province.

"The survival rate has reached 80 percent and each fish weighs more than 4 kilograms, and is of export-quality fit for the European Union market," said Gu Qihuan, general manager of Wanzefeng Fishery Co, a company based in a city neighboring Qingdao.

The company is in charge of salmon cultivation and manufacture at the Shenlan 1.

Dong Shuanglin is a professor of Qingdao-based Ocean University of China and a member of the expert team involved in salmon cultivation. He attributed the successful cultivation to a mass of cold water in the middle-level and deeper area of the Yellow Sea, which covers an area almost equivalent to Shandong province---157,900 square meters.

Dong said that its indicators concerning temperature, quality and dissolved oxygen provide favorable conditions for salmon breeding.

With a 115 million yuan ($17.7 million) investment, the Shenlan 1 -- equal to 40 standard swimming pools and weighing 1,500 metric tons, -- is the world's largest intelligent submersible aquaculture facility.

Its design features multiple core technologies including overall design, rising and descending control, and protection from shark attacks and legally recognized intellectual property, a major breakthrough in the research and development of deep-sea fish farms in China, according to Wanzefeng Fishery Co.