Crab farmers in Xinghua city – administered by Taizhou city in East China's Jiangsu province – have been hard at it of late, with 630,000 mu (42,000 hectares) of crab ponds now fully harvested.
In the run-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, they've been busy catching, sorting and exporting hairy crabs to supply the holiday market.
Recognized as the top city in China for its river crab farming, Xinghua ranks first in the country in terms of its production.
In recent years, by promoting the application of unmanned and automated equipment, the city has realized standardized breeding.
At present, there are over 300,000 people in Xinghua engaged in activities related to the industry, along with 371 cooperatives and 659 family fishing farms.
Focused on building the entire industry chain – of river crab breeding, processing and sales – Xinghua is now home to more than 200 manufacturers, with an annual processing capacity of 45,000 metric tons.
The city's transaction volume of river crabs and deep-processing products is projected to top 20 billion yuan ($2.74 billion) this year, with export sales exceeding $5 million.
A bird's-eye view of a breeding base for hairy crabs in Xinghua. [Photo/js.people.com.cn]
The hairy crabs are carefully placed into buckets. [Photo/js.people.com.cn]