New batch of ‘desert seafood’ from northwest China’s Xinjiang to hit market

Aquatic consultants in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Area have efficiently cultivated a wide range of scrumptious seafood, together with salmon, tilapia, lobster, and even white jade crabs, by utilizing saline-alkali water to create “synthetic seawater.” A brand new batch of this “desert seafood” is ready to hit the market, in response to CCTV Information on Monday.

The so-called “seafood miracle” of fish farming within the desert started with an unlikely useful resource—saline-alkali land. The high-salinity water in saline-alkali land is comparable in composition to seawater. By means of scientific changes, Xinjiang’s aquatic consultants have developed a way to create “synthetic seawater” from saline-alkali water, enabling the cultivation of assorted scrumptious aquatic merchandise.

Along with “synthetic seawater,” Xinjiang has additionally experimented with elevating saltwater shrimp in freshwater. Through the use of desalination ponds to progressively acclimate saltwater shrimp to freshwater environments, appropriate farming situations have been created. Leveraging the high-quality freshwater assets from the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang has efficiently bred plump Pacific white shrimp. Because of the pristine freshwater assets and years of farming expertise, Xinjiang’s whiteleg shrimp is understood for the massive dimension and wealthy taste, profitable over many shoppers.

A seafood farmer based mostly in Aksu metropolis surnamed Wang informed the World Instances that he has been engaged in aquaculture regionally since 2005, accumulating 20 years of expertise. At the moment, the operation is small in scale, with about six individuals concerned in crab farming beneath a reservoir contracting mannequin. The crabs are primarily bought to Urumqi, with restricted native gross sales however comparatively increased demand in inland areas. 

“Though the seafood market right here is proscribed, the crabs produced in Xinjiang are well-received for his or her superior style—wild and unfed. The free-range farming methodology in pure waters ensures high-quality crabs,” Wang mentioned.

In 2024 alone, Xinjiang’s produced 196,500 tons of aquatic merchandise, firmly rating first among the many 5 provincial-level areas in northwest China. These fish, shrimp, and crabs produced in Xinjiang should not solely bought throughout the nation but additionally exported to international locations comparable to Russia and Spain, CCTV reported.