Quzhou Sturgeon from Kecheng

Quzhou Sturgeon from Kecheng

　　Quzhou Sturgeon from Kecheng is a specialty of Kecheng District, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Leveraging its unique advantage of cold water resources, Kecheng District has developed a sturgeon farming industry, forming a new industrial pattern integrating breeding, farming, processing, exporting, and leisure. It has become the largest sturgeon farming base in China and a national-level sturgeon pedigree farm.

　　Sturgeon, as an ancient cartilaginous fish with hard scales, has thick meat, soft bones, delicious flavor, and high medicinal and nutritional value. Especially the caviar processed from sturgeon eggs, which ranks among the world's three most prized delicacies. Currently, the international market price can reach up to $2,000 per kilogram, earning it the reputation of "black gold."

　　Relying on the high-quality cold water resources from large reservoirs upstream of the Wuxi River (Hunan Town Reservoir and Huangtankou Reservoir), farmers in Kecheng District began sturgeon farming in 2005. Sturgeon is favored by farmers for its advantages such as large individual size, fast growth, strong adaptability, and low susceptibility to disease. By the end of 2006, a 145-acre high-tech sturgeon park was established in Huayuan, Kecheng District. Led by Xianlong Company, Kecheng District formed an industrialized production and management model of "company + base + farmer" and established a specialized economic cooperative organization for sturgeon farming. In early 2008, the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences officially designated the Kecheng High-Tech Sturgeon Farming Park as a “National Demonstration Base for Technological Achievement Transformation.” The district now has one farming base covering nearly 100,000 square meters, annually stocking 260 tons of sturgeon. There are also four farming zones, covering over 5,000 square meters, annually stocking 8 tons of sturgeon and breeding 2 million fry. The base directly involves 38 farming households in sturgeon farming, increasing their income by over 3 million yuan.

　　By 2012, Kecheng District aims to achieve a caviar processing scale of 30 tons, 1,000 tons of sturgeon meat, 300 tons of by-products, with a comprehensive output value of 400 million yuan and profits and taxes of 110 million yuan; annually breed 20 million sturgeon fry, with a fry output value of 60 million yuan, a farming yield of 2,000 tons, and an output value of 140 million yuan; and involve 7,000 people in farming and related industries, increasing fishermen and farmers’ annual income by over 80 million yuan. It is projected that by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the sturgeon farming area will reach 1,000 acres, with a radiation area of 5,000 acres, ranking first in the country; the sturgeon caviar processing scale will reach 50 tons, ranking first in the world.