Aquaculture in China

Success Stories and Modern Trends

Jian-Fang Gui, Qisheng Tang, Zhongjie Li, Jiashou Liu, Sena S. De Silva, Jian-Fang Gui, Qisheng Tang, Zhongjie Li, Jiashou Liu, Sena S. De Silva

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781119120766
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technik & Maschinenbau
• Subtopic: Fischerei & Aquakultur

Fish have been a major component of our diet and it has been suggested that fish/seafood consumption contributed to the development of the human brain, and this together with the acquisition of bipedalism, perhaps made us what we are. In the modern context global fish consumption is increasing. However, unlike our other staples, until a few years back the greater proportion of our fish supplies were of a hunted origin. This scenario is changing and a greater proportion of fish we consume now is of farmed origin.

Aquaculture, the farming of waters, is thought to have originated in China, many millennia ago. Nevertheless, it transformed into a major food sector only since the second half of the last century, and continues to forge ahead, primarily in the developing world. China leads the global aquaculture production in volume, in the number of species that are farmed, and have contributed immensely to transforming the practices from an art to a science.

This book attempts to capture some of the key elements and practices that have contributed to the success of Chinese aquaculture. The book entails contributions from over 100 leading experts in China, and provides insights into some aquaculture practices that are little known to the rest of the world. This book will be essential reading for aquaculturists, practitioners, researchers and students, and planners and developers.

Section 1
Notable Developments in Chinese Aquaculture in the Past Few Decades

Chapter 1.1
Contribution of Chinese Aquaculture to the Sector, Globally, and to Overall Food Security

Jiansan Jia¹, Weiming Miao², Junning Cai¹ and Xinhua Yuan³

¹FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Rome, Italy

²FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand

³Freshwater Fisheries Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China

1.1.1 Evolution of Chinese Aquaculture

China is purported to be the country where world's earliest aquaculture practices took place. Treatise on Pisciculture by Fan Li written in 460 BCE is recognized as the earliest monograph on aquaculture in the world. It recorded the practices of pond culture of common carp at the time, covering pond conditions, breeding of fish under controlled pond conditions and stocking density. The long history of Chinese aquaculture has largely benefited from Chinese traditions in which fish are not only valued as an important food source for people, but also have cultural value, since fish are considered a sign of wealth.

Ancient Chinese aquaculture started with monoculture of common carp in ponds. It gradually evolved and diversified in form and practice through its long history, which forms the basis of modern aquaculture. In the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AC), aquaculture entered a new era in China, indicated by the transition from monoculture of common carp to polyculture of four Chinese (major) carps (grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), silver carp – (Hypophthalamichthys molitrix), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus)). Paddy field clay models and ancient literature reveal that rice‐fish culture started 1700–2000 years ago in China (Wang 2000). By the dawn of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 CE), aquaculture management practices covering pond conditions, reasonable stocking, feeding and fertilization and disease control were well established for semi‐intensive culture production (Wang 2000). Various practices of integrated fish farming, such as integration of fish with livestock, and fish with sericulture and horticulture on pond dykes began in China in the seventeenth century (Dong 2011a). Extensive culture of fish in lakes and reservoirs began around 744 BCE and 1537 BCE respectively in China (Shi 1994).

Aquaculture development in China in the early days appears to have been prompted mainly by the dietary habits of Chinese people, and cultural traditions. In spite of the dependence on wild‐caught seed for centuries, aquaculture continued to be an important commercial production activity for many households, mostly concentrated in the delta areas of two major rivers in the country, the Yangtze (Changjiang) and the Pearl (Zhujiang) rivers, which led to the widespread expansion and establishment of fish farming as it is seen in the country today. Despite its long history, aquaculture remained in its primitive form, and on a very limited scale in China until the late 1950s due to various limiting factors. In 1950, national aquaculture production was still below 100 000 tonnes. Until the 1950s, developments in aquaculture in China during its 2000‐year history were limited to diversification in culture environments and improvements in practices. A first important technological breakthrough in aquaculture took place in China ...