Sihong Crayfish

Sihong Crayfish

　　Sihong crayfish is a specialty of Sihong County in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. The "Jinshui" brand Hongze Lake crayfish from Sihong are in high demand in cities such as Nanjing, Wuxi, Changzhou, Shanghai, and Ningbo.

　　Sihong County covers 40% of the total area of Hongze Lake, and its exceptional aquatic resources are well suited for crayfish farming. In recent years, the value of crayfish in the county has soared, with farming profits rising significantly. To this end, the county government has established a special science and technology project implementation leadership team, a technical research team, and a trial and demonstration team. Based on the recommendations of Researcher Tang Jianqing from the Provincial Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute, a high-quality crayfish population protection base was set up in the wetland reed labyrinth. Additionally, incentive measures have been introduced: for contiguous crayfish farms covering over 1,000 acres, the county government provides a subsidy of 200 yuan per acre. To date, the county has more than 5,000 large-scale crayfish farmers, and the farming area has expanded from 80,000 to 150,000 acres. Six major farming models have emerged, including pond monoculture, tidal flat farming, and netted enclosure farming, with an average yield of 200 kilograms of crayfish per acre and an average economic benefit of over 2,500 yuan per acre.

　　In Sihong, every "Jinshui" brand Hongze Lake crayfish comes with an "eco-farmed" premium label. The county has explicitly mandated that crayfish must not be farmed in small ditches or streams—the water quality must meet regulated standards, and if the crayfish habitat lacks emergent or submerged aquatic plants, these must be artificially planted. The feed used must be designated special-purpose feed, ensuring it contains no prohibited substances. Provincial authorities have conducted multiple spot checks on these eco-simulated farmed crayfish, with a consistent 100% pass rate, and they have been certified by the Ministry of Agriculture as pollution-free aquatic products.

　　Sihong’s eco-farmed crayfish are not only popular domestically but also favored by consumers in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Chenzizhou Food Co., Ltd. alone exports over 1,000 tons of "cooked frozen shrimp meat" and "whole crayfish" to the United States each year.