A local resident catches a longsnout catfish in Wanfu community in Dongchen town, Rugao, Nantong. [Photo/WeChat account: rugaofabu]

Freshwater aquaculture has significantly increased local residents' incomes in Wanfu community in Dongchen town, Rugao, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, local media outlets reported.

Since 2007, the community has fully utilized its abundant water resource and subsidies from the central government to encourage villagers to raise freshwater fish.

A farmers' cooperative was established in 2012 and occasionally invited experts to offer technological guidance to farmers, according to Xu Jie, Party secretary of the community.

Gu Chunming, a local resident who started raising freshwater fish in 2011, has nearly 7 hectares of fishponds, which generate more than 1 million yuan ($154,600) in annual profits.

"My life has been significantly upgraded," said Gu, who mainly raises longsnout catfish.

As a Chinese saying goes, "You will not know the real taste of fish without longsnout catfish." 

Most of Gu's longsnout catfish is sold to Shanghai, Suzhou, and Changzhou. The annual volume is up to 80,000 kilograms.

Xu said that the community plans to expand the scale of raising longsnout catfish, aiming to further increase local residents' incomes.