A floating community of aquaculturists raise abalone and sea cucumber in cages beneath their shacks along the shallow muddy shoreline of Fujian Province, which has become the seafood basket of the country. China is considered the birthplace of aquaculture, with the first instruction manual for fish farmers written in 475 BCE. The peak in wild caught fish over the last few decades combined with rising demand has led to a boom in aquaculture, which now provides about half of all fish consumed on Earth. Today, China farms its coastal waters as intensively as it farms its fields. The nation consumes 45 percent of the world’s seafood and produces 35 percent of it, mostly from its aquaculture industry that accounts for more than 60 percent of global production. Although traditional cage systems like these dominate the current industry, the Chinese government is promoting more industrial, land-based recirculating tank systems that are highly controllable and thought to be more environmentally friendly.
