Fishermen busy sorting abalone fingerlings in Lianjiang county, SE China's Fujian (6)

Aerial photo shows fishermen sorting abalone fingerlings in Lianjiang county, Fuzhou city, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Photo courtesy of the media convergence center of Lianjiang)

Recently, fishermen in Lianjiang county, Fuzhou city, southeast China's Fujian Province, have been busy sorting nearly 2 billion abalone fingerlings in order to help them grow, improve their survival rates and raise breeding efficiency.

Abalone breeding is a pillar industry of Lianjiang’s marine economy. There are now about 22,000 mu (about 1,466.7 hectares) of abalone breeding areas in the county, and the output of abalone has exceeded 54,200 tons, accounting for about one-third of the national total output.

"I raise more than 4,000 cages of abalone and I've hired more than 30 workers to help me with the work. We work about 10 hours a day and can sort a total of around 500 cages of abalone," said local fisherman Dong Shujian.

Dong said the output value of his abalone can reach about 4 million yuan ($594,800) a year, and the annual profit is about one million yuan. The bright prospects and profitability of the business have attracted an increasing number of villagers to join the abalone breeding business.