Fish are a valuable source of nutrients (e.g., protein, essential fatty acids, and trace elements) for human nutrition and play an essential role in global food security (Tacon and Metian 2013). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), fish provided 17% of animal proteins and 7% of all proteins for the global population in 2017 (FAO 2020). Aquaculture has been the main supplier of fish for human consumption since 2014, accounting for 52% of the total in 2018 (FAO 2020). China is the world’s largest aquaculture producer: in 2020, it produced 49.90 million tonnes of aquaculture fish, accounting for 57.03% of the global total (FAO 2022). However, the development of Chinese aquaculture has been confronted with many problems due to excessive use of traditional culture systems (e.g., ponds and cages), such as disease outbreaks, environmental pollution, and food safety concerns (Cao et al. 2014).

Industrialized aquaculture is an important future trend for aquaculture development in China, owing to its advantages in saving water and land resources and promoting higher productivity and sustainability. However, little information on its current status has been available up to now. This paper reviews the current status of industrialized aquaculture in China and summarizes the main issues in its development, as well as proposing possible solutions for its future direction.

Definition of industrialized aquaculture in China

Industrialized aquaculture usually refers to land-based industrialized (indoor-tank) farming (Gui et al. 2018). It controls the water quality and water temperature for aquaculture through machinery or automation equipment following the principles of continuity and flow of the process; forms an independent system for fish breeding, fish hatchery, and commercial fish production; and makes it possible to carry out continuous nonseasonal production with high efficiency (FBMA 2021). According to government statistics, industrialized aquaculture systems can be defined as circulating filter type, warm drainage type, ordinary flow type, and warm water type (FBMA 2021).

Compared with traditional culture methods (e.g., ponds and cages), industrialized aquaculture systems have the following advantages:

  1. (1)

    They have more controllable conditions, higher culture density, and more extended production periods. Industrialized aquaculture systems can achieve high-density culture, free aquaculture from climatic constraints, and prolong the fish growth period by controlling the physical and chemical factors (e.g., water temperature and dissolved oxygen) that are required for the optimal growth of fish.

  2. (2)

    They save land and water resources: compared with conventional aquaculture systems, some industrialized aquaculture systems (e.g., recirculating aquaculture systems) use 90–99% less water and less than 1% of the land area (Ebeling and Timmons 2012).

  3. (3)

    Their construction sites are more flexible. Conventional aquaculture systems need to be built close to the water source and are generally far from the aquatic products markets. However, owing to the systems’ highly efficient utilization rate of water resources, industrialized aquaculture can be constructed in places where water resources are not abundant and are close to the aquatic products markets. This helps in cutting the cost of aquatic products distribution.

  4. (4)

    They improve feed utilization and reduce pollutant emissions. The feed conversion ratio value in industrialized aquaculture systems ranges from 0.8 to 1.1 (Ahmed and Turchini 2021), while in conventional culture systems, it is between 1.3 and 1.7 (Naylor et al. 2021). Compared with traditional culture systems, industrialized aquaculture improves feed utilization and reduces the detrimental effects of aquaculture effluents on the environment.

Farmed species in industrialized aquaculture in China

Farmed aquaculture species in China have similarities and differences when compared with developed countries (Table 1). Farmed species in European countries are concentrated on sturgeon (order Acipenseriformes), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), European eel (Anguilla anguilla), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), pike perch (Stizostedion lucioperca), and European lobster (Homarus gammarus). North American aquaculture focuses on oyster mussel (Epioblasma capsaeformis), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis), and tilapia. Industrialized aquaculture in Japan focuses on Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica), pejerrey (Odontesthes bonariensis), Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus silver), kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus), white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), and abalone (Haliotis sp.). Farmed species in China include grouper (Epinephelus sp.), large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea), half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis), giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), white shrimp, turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), and starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus); of these, turbot and half-smooth tongue sole are the main cultured species in industrialized aquaculture (Wang et al. 2013).

Table 1 Comparison of cultured species in industrialized aquaculture
Full size table

Industrialized aquaculture models in China

The development of industrialized aquaculture in China has been a process of gradual change over time. In the 1970s, industrialized aquaculture models were dominated by still water and flowing water aquaculture. In the 1980s, China introduced foreign recirculating aquaculture systems and began to develop recirculating aquaculture; however, the introduced facilities were not widely applied due to the high capital and operating costs (**g et al. 2018). At the end of the twentieth century, industrialized flowing water aquaculture characterized by “utility sheds + underground seawater” was widely promoted and applied; its advantages included economic efficiency, reduced environmental impact, and high yield (Lei 2010). In the twenty-first century, with the strategic demand for the benefits of a circular economy, energy-saving, and emissions reduction, the closed recirculating aquaculture model was developed in China (Fan and Fang 2020; Wang et al. 2013). At present, industrialized aquaculture models in China can be divided into three models: flowing water systems, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), and aquaponics systems (Fig. 1) (Cang 2019; Chen et al. 2009; Li et al. 2021). A series of strategies have been recommended to deal with these problems, such as the support of free legal advice and financial assistance to companies and farmers along the aquaculture industrial chain (Chang et al. 2022; Yuan et al. 2022).

Conclusion

Industrialized aquaculture is an environmentally friendly and sustainable culture model, possessing considerable advantages over traditional culture systems in saving water and resources, increasing production and food security of aquatic products, and reducing pollutant emissions. At present, industrialized aquaculture is still at an early stage of development and is mainly distributed in coastal regions. The development of industrialized aquaculture is restricted by high capital and operational costs, the uncompetitive market price of fish, uneven distribution of industrialized aquaculture, a lack of suitably experienced RAS managers and operators, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible solutions to these problems include technological innovations in systems optimization, the use of renewable energy sources and biofloc technology, the pollution-free certification of industrialized aquaculture products, more trained professionals in water quality control and waste management, and the financial assistance to companies and farmers along the aquaculture industrial chain.