Yang Guanyu/Xinhua/Alamy
Chinese universities lead the world in applied sciences, from agricultural research to materials science. But Neil Loneragan, chairman of the Malaysia-based Asian Fisheries Association and emeritus professor of marine science at Australia’s Murdoch University, says China’s “very unique” R&D environment makes it difficult to answer fundamental questions. says it’s not always easy.
Loneragan said the central government’s influence on ranch development means researchers have to walk a tightrope between two bosses: academic leaders and party leaders. It is said that there is. Marine biologists want to understand the basics, he says, but “researchers need to figure it out and demonstrate the economic benefits to industry and, in turn, the benefits to governments of investment.”
Many efforts aim to address known problems in the lifecycle of captive-raised fish, such as inadequate reproductive rates and a low chance of survival for young fish that reach the ocean. Research shows that these early-stage fish are particularly vulnerable to environmental fluctuations, such as storms and recent ocean heatwaves.
One of the most radical solutions Zhongxin Wu is testing is to improve their physical fitness before they are released from breeding tanks into the wild. Currently, fish are simply scooped into oxygenated plastic bags and released into ocean farms, where many are found to be weak or unable to survive, Wu said. It is said that there is. In response, his team is developing a series of “wild training” tools. “The main method is swimming training,” he says. In fact, young fish are forced to swim against the current on a kind of underwater treadmill in order to adapt to the demands of the wild. Other techniques, he says, include changing water temperatures and introducing other species to prepare for the seagrass and kelp forests they encounter in the outside world.
Wu says better ways to improve habitat have the greatest potential to make marine ranching more effective. Currently, most ranches create an underwater environment using precast concrete structures placed under 20 meters of water, often with roughened surfaces to support coral and algae growth. I am. A typical Chinese ranch aims for 30,000 cubic meters of artificial reef. For example, in the conservation-focused ranching area around Wuzhizhou Island, 1,000 cast concrete reef structures were dropped around the tropical island’s shores. Fish populations have increased tenfold in the past decade.