A view of an ecological aquafarm adjacent to Taihu Lake in Qiaolou village, Zhili township, Huzhou city, Zhejiang province, on Sept. 8 (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Recently, major aquaculture farms in Zhili township, Huzhou city, Zhejiang province, have been harvesting giant freshwater prawns. Produced adjacent to Taihu Lake – one of the largest freshwater lakes in China – “Taihu’s no. 1”product experiences great demand due to the fact that the crustaceans are larger and have higher-quality meat than average. Zhili rears more than 1,000 tons of giant freshwater prawns per year, which translates to approximately 100 million yuan (US$15.49 million) of direct economic benefits for local aquaculturists. The township has been actively promoting high value-added ecological farming, including mixed shrimp-crab aquaculture and mixed rice-shrimp aquaculture, in recent years in order to help people increase their incomes and promote common prosperity in its rural areas.