Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province — China has launched Suhai-1, the world’s first self-propelled, enclosed salmon aquaculture vessel. This groundbreaking ship integrates breeding, harvesting, and on-board processing of high-value fish species, functioning both as a mobile offshore fish farm and a modern fishery processing plant.
Suhai-1 boasts a displacement of 132,000 tonnes, comparable to two medium-sized aircraft carriers. It features 15 aquaculture cabins with a total water volume of 83,000 cubic meters — equivalent to 33 international standard swimming pools. The vessel is equipped with a centralized automated feeding system that manages feed storage, transportation, hoisting, unpacking, conveying, and distribution, all guided by intelligent feeding decisions.
Revolutionizing Aquaculture
Unlike traditional stationary net-cage aquaculture in open seas, Suhai-1 can produce while cruising at a maximum speed of 18 kilometers per hour. This mobility allows it to relocate quickly to safer waters during adverse conditions like typhoons and red tides, greatly enhancing operational safety and stability.
Deep-sea salmon prefer colder waters, so Suhai-1 will navigate to the cold-water mass in the Yellow Sea once operations begin. This ensures that salmon remain within their optimal growth temperature range of 10-18 degrees Celsius. In effect, the vessel “travels” with the fish to favorable environments, returning with full holds of mature salmon.
China’s Growing Salmon Market
China has become the fastest-growing salmon consumer market globally in 2023. The salmon industry’s market size reached 12.6 billion RMB ($1.76 billion) in 2024, marking a 21 percent year-on-year growth, according to China Media Group. The market size is expected to exceed 260,000 tonnes by 2030, with people born after the 1990s and 2000s forming the core consumer demographic.
Currently, domestic salmon production in China falls short of demand, with output below 50,000 tonnes. Suhai-1 is expected to significantly boost production capacity, providing a stable supply while mitigating risks from market price fluctuations. The shipowner company says Suhai-1 will head to the Yellow Sea to release salmon fry for cultivation this autumn and winter. The first batch of salmon produced is anticipated to be ready for market sale around next year’s Dragon Boat Festival.
