A Chinese-Norwegian consortium involving several private companies, public institutions and NGOs has been set up for the construction of a hyperintensive aquaculture reference center in Hainan Island (SE China). During the first phase of development, this new venture allocates 70 Ha to the land-based production of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and cod (Gadus morhua) under SRS-RAS technology, with an expected date of completion during the second half of 2014.
This ambitious project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of the SRS-RAS technology for the indoor production of commercial species, reducing the strong external dependence characterizing the Chinese aquaculture market, and providing a technical reference for the training of aquapreneurs. The project considers at a later stage the production of other species such as grouper, sea cucumbers, various polychaetes or commercially relevant crustaceans.
The SRS-RAS hyperintensive technology is based on Shallow Raceways Systems (SRS) under recirculation (Recirculation Aquaculture Systems, RAS). There are now several industrial facilities in the European Union operating under SRS-RAS technology, producing turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis), European sole (Solea solea)and certain molluscs and crustaceans in the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The main advantages of the SRS-RAS technology derive from saving resources, requiring only 20-50% of land compared to conventional farming systems, and dramatically decreasing labor, energy and water requirements per ton produced.
However, and in spite of great interest from new aquaculture promoters in implementing this technology for both fresh and saltwater ventures, there are still some technical issues that condition their viability. Among them, the need for aquafeed specifically designed for these culture systems, the extremely low water/biomass ratios, which make essential the fine adjustment of the water treatment systems for each particular application, and the lack ofad hoc solutions for the handling, sorting, processing and harvesting routines under conditions that ensure the industrial operation of the facilities.