A land-based barrel fish farming model has been carried out in Qujiang district, Quzhou, leading to fruitful results.

The land-based barrel fish farming model is a new type of low-carbon and efficient aquaculture model. It adopts a high-density factory farming model and recycles water through control systems such as water intake, oxygenation, drainage, temperature measurement and tail water treatment. Real-time monitoring of water quality is achieved through big data platforms.

The Shangqing family farm in Yantou village, Quanwang town, Qujiang district, adopted the farming model in May of last year.

The farm currently has more than 90 blue barrels for fish farming. Each barrel has a diameter of 6 meters and is about 1.5 meters deep.

A barrel can raise 1,000 kilograms of adult fish, more than 10 times that of traditional pond farming, leading to about 15,000 yuan ($2,082.66) in profits, said Xu Mingfei, the farm's manager. So far the farm has invested more than 3 million yuan.

Xu said that though real-time monitoring, the growth environment of fish can be controlled, greatly reducing the incidence and mortality rate of fish.

Compared with traditional pond farming, which produces a large amount of wastewater from fish excretion, the land-based barrel farming model is more ecological due to the installation of a purification system.

"Firstly, the purification system can transform elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus in tailwater and decompose harmful substances. Then the water is discharged into the pond in the farm. Spotted silver carp raised in the pond can absorb and filter surplus nitrogen and phosphorus substances in tailwater to achieve secondary ecological purification effects. Finally, the water is pumped back into the barrel for recycling," Xu explained.