Located in the Pearl River Estuary, Lingdingyang is home to the Wanshan Archipelago, where the islands are scattered like stars. One of these islands is Wailingding Island. It is situated in the southeast of Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai, and boasts charming scenery and neat streets.
To the southwest of Wailingding Island lies its quiet counterpart, Aizhou Island. On the pier of the island stand several beige bungalows. They are the homes of farmers, the only inhabitants of the island. For them, the silent sea brings infinite vitality and hope.
New home for Bro Tian and the fish
About two hundred meters away from Aizhou Island, the fish rafts made of wooden boards and floating on the sea are the farmers' working place. A fish raft breeds about 10,000 to 15,000 kilograms of fish of high economic value, including stargazers, cobia, spinefoots, and various types of groupers.
This is the eighth year that Lin Qiang, the raft manager of Aizhou Island Huazhou Fish Farm, has worked on the island. He is a "regular" on Aizhou Island, and people who know him call him "Bro Tian".
Speaking of how life had changed, Bro Tian put on a bright smile. "Life was hard on the island before. But in the last two years, I got a pay raise. The company also set us up with a TV, air conditioning, a fridge, and other appliances. The company pays for electricity. Life has become better." As he was speaking, Bro Tian took out some food from the refrigerator and went to the kitchen to cook.
A while ago, Bro Tian built a new home for the fish. "The fish rafts were wooden. Now we have new plastic fish rafts, which cover a bigger area of more than 200 square meters. The new rafts can accommodate 15,000 to 20,000 kilograms of fish. And they are more resistant to typhoons."
Every week, Bro Tian acts as a fish "delivery man", driving a small boat back to Wailingding Island and then bringing the small fish to Aizhou Island. "Offshore aquaculture did not involve fish feeds but small fish so that marine pollution could be avoided and fish farming could be more natural."
On top of that, modern machinery and equipment have also effectively reduced farmers' burden, such as trawling, which previously solely relied on the manual labour of ten people and now can be done by machines, Bro Tian explained.
From fishing to farming
Xie Jian, a deputy to the National People's Congress and the manager of the Wailingding Post Office of the Zhuhai City Branch of China Post Group Co., Ltd, has lived on Wailingding Island for more than 30 years. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, when infrastructure was less developed, the post office was supported by Xie Jian alone.
Apart from Wailingding Island, Xie Jian was also responsible for the postal services on seven other islands. And that lasted for more than 30 years.
Six years ago, Xie Jian learned that inshore fishing was getting harder. After in-depth research and visits, he thought it was important to shift from inshore fishing to offshore fish farming, given Zhuhai's excellent marine resources.
During the "Two Sessions" in 2020, Xie Jian proposed accelerating the development of the ocean economy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and accelerating the promotion of scientific offshore farming, which was highly valued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
At that time, Feng Zhiguang, an islander that worked in seafood procurement, was worried about his business, and Xie Jian actively guided him to switch to offshore aquaculture. Immediately after that, Feng Zhiguang established Zhuhai Huazhou Aquaculture Co. Ltd.
Feng Zhiguang said that in recent years, the fish farming industry has enjoyed loan interest deductions, and the market for their products has grown with the help of various exhibitions and the shopping basket project, which aims to improve the market supply of not-stable food.
"Nowadays, we not only have an expanded area for offshore farming, but also we are constantly adding quality fry from all over the world," Feng Zhiguang said with a smile.
Expectations for the islands
In the waters of Wanshan Island and Wailingding Island, there are more than 10 offshore fish farms that Xie Jian knows of. Xie Jian mentioned a rather special farming platform called "Penghuhao", which is located on Guishan Island.
The platform can not only fulfil its function as an aquaculture platform, but also carries seawater desalination equipment, sewage treatment equipment, water boiler, air conditioning, freezers, and other equipment for living. It can accommodate 20 people, and the above can provide good conditions for marine tourism development.
In early February, China unveiled its "No. 1 Central Document" for 2023, in which the construction of modern marine ranches and offshore aquaculture development are mentioned. Guangdong also proposed to "vigorously develop marine ranching and offshore aquaculture", as written in this year's government work report.
A witness to the growth of Wailingding Island, Xie Jian believed everything was just the beginning. He expects a brighter future with a new pier, where more boats can dock, fish can be bred, and visitors can go fishing.
Presented by Southcn.com & GDToday
English version: Abby, Huo Weilu
English Editors: Wing, Olivia, Nan, Monica, James
Chinese version: Aizhou Island's "Guests"
