STORY: Saltwater fish farm brings a taste of ocean to inland region
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 1, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 6, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:27
LOCATION: URUMQI, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Hongqi Farm

STORYLINE:

In northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is over a thousand miles away from the coast, a farm cultivating saltwater fish is redefining the local understanding of seafood and fisherman.

Hongqi Farm, located in Atux City of Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, began a bold experiment to raise saltwater fish in saline-alkali water. 

Flowing in abundance from a nearby valley, the salty water has long been seen as unusable wastewater.

With the assistance funds from south China's Guangdong Province, the farm has managed to fertilize the saline-alkali water naturally to simulate a marine water environment, and it has built an automatic purification system that allows the water to be reused.

Saltwater seafood options from prawns to lobsters have been piloted since last year, and tilapia were found to be both profitable and easy to cultivate for beginners. The farm then built 67 hectares of fishponds, raising 650,000 tilapias since late May and realizing an output value of approximately 8 million yuan (about 1.1 million U.S. dollars).

Hongqi Farm, which is owned by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, said its main goal is to improve the incomes of local farmers, and not simply to make a commercial splash.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Urumqi, China.
(XHTV)