Source: Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences

Farmed Yellowfin Tuna Successfully Harvested in Hainan

CHINA
Friday, October 17, 2025, 06:00 (GMT + 9)

Technological Innovation Yields 100-Jin (200 kg) Specimens from China’s First Offshore Deep-Sea Aquaculture Base

Just in time for the "China Farmers' Harvest Festival," excellent news has emerged from China's first offshore tuna aquaculture demonstration base, located in Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province. More than 4,000 yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) have been successfully cultivated over 30 months, with some individuals weighing over 50 kilograms and measuring over 1 meter in length.

The initiative marks a significant step forward in the country's capacity to ensure marine food security, reducing reliance on ocean fishing, which faces increasing risks of overdevelopment.

Breaking Barriers in Tuna Cultivation

Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is highly valued in the market for its firm meat, elastic texture, and high nutritional value, inspiring the phrase: "If you don’t eat golden tuna, you don’t know the taste of the sea."

The artificial breeding of this fish, known for its fragility, is a formidable challenge. Tuna are constant swimmers who must maintain a certain speed to force water through their gills to obtain oxygen; if they stop swimming, they die from lack of oxygen. Furthermore, their epidermis is thin and fragile, making them extremely susceptible to environmental changes, which easily triggers stress responses.

This success is the result of eight years of continuous scientific research by the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences and its research team. The scientists achieved key technological breakthroughs in:

• Environmental and nutritional regulation.

• Disease prevention and control.

• Artificial spawning and hatching.

These advancements established a complete yellowfin tuna artificial breeding technology system, transitioning from land-based aquaculture to deep-sea cages.

Improved Quality and Stability on the Table

The farmed yellowfin tuna, now entering the market as "First Fresh," offers several advantages over wild-caught fish:

• Stable Quality: Farmed tuna, receiving a scientific and controlled diet, has increased and evenly distributed fat content, resulting in more stable taste and quality.

• Greater Freshness: While wild tuna must be immediately processed, bled, de-acidified, and flash-frozen to prevent long transport times from affecting quality, the farmed tuna quickly "swims" from the cage to the dining table, offering a better fresh-locking effect.

Beyond commercial sales, the fastest-growing and healthiest tuna are being carefully bred as broodstock. The research team is now focused on achieving the goal of fully artificial breeding, studying the reproduction patterns to achieve self-sufficiency in fry as soon as possible and promote large-scale aquaculture development.

Source:  Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences

[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Print