Jiangsu Zhongyang Group's Yangtze River rare fish breeding center, located in the Haina Binhai New District in Jiangsu province, has made significant progress in breeding Fugu pufferfish.

The center has bred a more cold-resistant Fugu pufferfish, which can help shorten the cultivation cycle and reduce cultivation costs.

The Fugu pufferfish is highly popular among consumers for its tender and delicious meat, which is rich in protein and fat content.

However, this kind of pufferfish cannot tolerate low temperatures and takes two years to cultivate before it can be sold to market, according to Tu Hanqing, deputy director of the engineering and technology research center at Zhongyang Group.

To promote the large-scale cultivation of Fugu pufferfish, it is necessary to overcome the pufferfish's lack of cold tolerance in breeding. Initially, staff had to use boilers to raise the temperature of the greenhouse to at least 16 Celsius.

In order to improve traditional methods, Zhongyang's technical personnel used mass selection and gradually changed the environmental temperature pressure to enhance the pufferfish's cold tolerance.

After eight generations of cultivation, they bred "Zhongyang No 1", which can shorten the cultivation cycle by half, reduce cultivation costs by over 60 percent, and increase the survival rate by over 30 percent.

In addition, Zhongyang Group has cultivated a kind of Fugu pufferfish that can survive at 4.6 Celsius.

Bacterial infection during aquaculture is another major issue that Zhongyang Group is actively striving to overcome. Researchers at a subsidiary of Zhongyang Group are currently conducting tests on antimicrobial peptides extracted from bass.

According to Zhu Xinpeng, the company’s deputy general manager, the extracted antimicrobial peptides can replace the use of antibiotics in aquaculture and livestock farming, further enhancing food safety.

The Yangtze River rare fish breeding center of Jiangsu Zhongyang Group. [Photo/Nantong Daily]