A technical breakthrough has made it possible to breed temperate zone fish on a large scale in subtropical southeast China.
The Artificial Breeding and Industrialization Demonstration Project for Lefteye Flounder passed approval recently by a panel of experts from the Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Department.
Dubbed the "fish king of northern China", the lefteye flounder has suited to temperate zone conditions, has a low survival rate and produces only a tiny number of fry every year.
After three years of research and comparative studies of the fish's biological features and local ecological conditions, technicians established a fish farm around Dongshan Island in Fujian and made a series of breakthroughs in basic technologies like fry breeding, bait production and disease prevention.
To date, 6.35 million fry have been bred at the base, creating a production value of 71.79 million yuan (US$8.65 million) and a net profit of 46.52 million yuan (US$5.6 million).
Most of these fry have been since sold to coastal areas such as Shanghai Municipality and the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Shandong.
(People's Daily July 19, 2002)
