In early 2025, Qingdao Qicai Seed Industry Technology Co., Ltd. received an email from Australia, where aquaculture enterprises in the native habitat of Murray cod took the initiative to seek technical support for fry breeding. Behind this email lies a 14-year independent breakthrough of China's aquatic seed industry: in 2011, Professor Gong Qingli's research team introduced the first batch of Australian Murray cod fry. After experiencing setbacks in technology introduction and making arduous efforts in independent R&D, the team achieved a breakthrough in full artificial breeding technology in 2019, ending the "chokepoint" predicament in seed sources. This marked a role transformation from "learner" to "mentor", contributing Chinese solutions to the sustainable development of global fisheries.

The importance of email:

From "import dependence" to "solution export"

     This email took his thoughts back more than a decade ago: in 2011, he introduced Murray cod fry to China for the first time. The technical background on how to acclimatize and cultivate Murray cod was almost completely blank, and in the initial years of breeding, it fell into a vicious cycle of "introduction - death - reintroduction": the survival rate of fry was less than 10%, and key technical barriers remained difficult to break through.

     To date, Australian aquaculture farms have begun to seek technical advice from us. This dramatic reversal reflects the profound changes that have taken place in China's aquatic seed industry.

The Journey of Shattering Barriers:

Dual Drivers: Independent R&D and Policy Safeguards

     Equipment Breakthrough: Developed modular recirculating aquaculture equipment for fry rearing, integrating multiple functional modules such as water quality monitoring, bait feeding, and water purification. The fry survival rate has exceeded 30%.

     Policy Support as a Shot in the Arm for Enterprises: In 2021, the No. 1 Central Document clearly proposed requirements for promoting the revitalization of the seed industry, listing aquatic seed industry as a priority development area for the first time. In 2023, Qicai Seed Industry completed the construction of a full artificial breeding base for Murray cod, capable of producing over 5 million high-quality fry annually with a localization rate of 100%.

Technological Breakthrough:

Reversely Exporting Chinese Solutions

Seed Industry Revitalization:

Qingdao's Paradigm for the Development and Rise of the Blue Economy

     The legendary comeback of Murray cod is a microcosm of Qingdao's practice in advancing the maritime power strategy. Undoubtedly, Qingdao ranks among the national "first tier" in marine breeding. Taking seed industry innovation as a fulcrum, Qingdao is leveraging a trillion-yuan blue economy landscape and writing a new-era "fisheries answer sheet" in the vast deep blue territory.