Oysters, crabs flourish in desert ponds

Exotic crustaceans

Oysters are not the only surprise in Xinjiang's aquaculture industry this year. In Ganquan township, white jade crabs have entered their harvest season under the guidance of Shu Qifu, a technician from a crab-breeding company in Huzhou, a city in Zhejiang.

Shu said he developed the variety jointly with Shanghai Ocean University. After trials in 2024 and 2025, he has worked full-time in Xinjiang this year on large-scale breeding.

About 150,000 juvenile crabs have been stocked so far this year across 10 hectares. The crabs are sold mainly in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and Shanghai, and also in Central Asian countries.

"Local conditions suit the species well," Shu said. He explained that snowmelt from the Tianshan Mountains is free of industrial pollution and rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc — minerals suited to crustacean growth. Abundant sunshine and the absence of a plum rain season help keep pond water at around 28 C, which he said is optimal for the crabs.

The snowmelt is first diverted to a reservoir and left to settle for two to three days before being pumped into the ponds. Because the native water is highly alkaline, with a pH of 10 to 11, lactic acid bacteria and organic carbon sources are added. These bring it into the 7.5–8.5 range crabs prefer and also cultivate beneficial microbes.

Water grass collected from local rivers gives the crabs shelter, provides a natural source of vitamins, and helps keep the water clean.

Shu also carries out regular pond-bottom maintenance and adds trace elements and beneficial bacteria. He uses bacteria cultured on site and fermented manure with small amounts of fertilizer.

The crabs are fed high-protein feed transported from Huzhou, supplemented with corn, wheat, and pond grass. "High protein in the feed improves the crabs' condition, which lowers disease rates and raises survival rates," Shu said.

Word of Xinjiang's seafood is spreading well beyond the farms, reaching consumers far and wide.

Pan Ziheng, a lawyer from Shanghai, began a yearlong work assignment in Kashgar, Xinjiang, in September. A month of steady beef and mutton left her craving seafood, so she set out to track down a local source.

She came across a rural courtyard pond on the social media platform Xiaohongshu, and a friend later spotted it in person while passing by. They went to eat there and found the prices reasonable.

"The crab price was roughly what I would pay in Shanghai, at just over 100 yuan ($15) per kilogram. The taste and texture were excellent."

According to Pan, notices on both sides of the pond invited diners to catch seafood themselves as a hands-on experience. Eager to eat, however, they let the pond owner do the work.

Back in Shanghai, crabs were Pan's favorite. Before she left for Xinjiang, her friends worried she would miss out on seafood so they treated her to crab meals for a whole week.

But Xinjiang gave her a pleasant surprise. She never expected to find such good-quality and affordable crabs there.

"I believe there will be more and more seafood in Xinjiang in the future," she said.