Of every six prawns on the domestic market, one is cultivated in Zhanjiang. The coastal city in South China produced 178 kilotons of prawns from its 44.3 mu (3 hectares) of farming areas last year, according to Zhanjiang Ocean and Fisheries Bureau.

With such outstanding performance in aquaculture processing, production and logistics scope, the prawn industry has become the most mature industry chain in Zhanjiang, earning the city an elite place among the country's aquatic industries.

An aquatic products workshop in Zhanjiang [Photo/gdzjdaily.com.cn]

A conference held on Zhanjiang's Nansan Island last month focused on using modern technologies to develop prawn aquaculture.

Wu Guoxiong, director of the Zhanjiang Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, said that the whole marine economy experienced sustainable growth, with expected gross output and added value hitting 125.8 billion yuan ($18.3 billion) and 65.4 billion yuan respectively.

So far the city has 10 key laboratories and more than 32 leading fishery enterprises at municipal level or above, with two at state level. Of the total number of sci-tech workers in Zhanjiang, 15 percent are dedicated to the fishery industry.

Zhanjiang holds a conference discussing the use of modern technologies to develop prawn aquaculture last month. [Photo/zjphoto.yinsha.com]

A number of important fishery economic indicators have ranked first among prefecture-level cities in Guangdong for 10 consecutive years.

Government officials and experts attributed the achievements to the advancing establishment of high-tech marine fishery bases and the upgrading of fishing vessels, the key emphasis of work last year. Aquatic cultivation parks in Xuwen, Leizhou and Suixi, as well as core processing parks in the Chikan and Xiashan districts also put their best efforts forward. Next year Zhanjiang will make efforts to build the city into a model of innovative marine economic development and continue to facilitate the upgrade of traditional fisheries.