Nearly two years after making its first harvest of 65 metric tons of yellow croaker in September 2022, the world's first smart aquaculture vessel, now floating in the East China Sea, has achieved an annual production of 3,200t, equivalent to 3.3 million fish.

Measuring 249.9 meters long and 45m wide, the Guoxin-1 has sailed over 12,000 nautical miles since its launch in 2022, according to the Hong Kong-based publication Bastille Post Global.

The 100,000t smart fish farming vessel houses 15 breeding cabins with water volume of 90,000 cubic meters. Photo: CCTV Video News Agency

The news service said that the 100,000t vessel houses 15 breeding cabins with a total water volume of 90,000 cubic meters for raising fish, setting records for the largest aquaculture vessel, tanks and overall volume.

The vessel employs advanced water management techniques, continuously pumping fresh seawater 15m below the surface to maintain a dynamic environment in its breeding tanks.

A unique three-dimensional vortex within each tank encourages the fish to swim upstream, which is "crucial for the large yellow croaker as it ensures the fish remain fit and healthy," Sun Linlin, an aquaculture technical engineer aboard the Guoxin-1, said.

Innovations extend to the vessel's feeding practices – the feed is designed to float, matching the croaker's natural eating habits and reducing waste and pollution.

One of the fish tanks in Guoxin-1 fish-farming ship. Photo: CCTV Video News Agency

"Our quality fish feed contains stable amounts of nutrition, allowing us to control the quantity and timing of meals precisely," explained Sun.

The report said that one of the Guoxin-1's standout features is its ability to follow optimal water temperatures for yellow croaker growth, reducing the farming cycle from over a year to only six months.

The vessel can also handle the entire fish farming process, including breeding, feeding, harvesting and processing, enabling the ship to deliver packaged fish to shore within six hours.

Salted yellow croaker. Photo by Jason Huffman.

The vessel can relocate to safer waters in adverse conditions such as typhoons or red tides, minimizing potential losses.

Crew members and technical staff, many of whom have academic backgrounds in aquaculture, are optimistic about the future of such advanced vessels.

"My undergraduate and postgraduate studies focused on traditional farming methods, and the concept of an aquaculture vessel was still in its infancy at the time. I didn't expect that our country would turn this concept into a reality so quickly," said Sun. "I'm looking forward to seeing more aquaculture vessels cruising our major seas in the near future."