Yellow croaker makes a splash

The city's most popular fish is moving from traditional braised and steamed dishes into frozen fillets and ready-to-eat foods for kitchens at home and abroad, Yang Feiyue reports in Ningde, Fujian.

One fish can now fill a table in Ningde. At recent food events in the coastal city of East China's Fujian province, chefs prepared large yellow croaker in more than 100 ways, ranging from familiar steamed and braised dishes to boneless fillets, ready-to-eat foods and more elaborate creations.

The fish may arrive whole, with its golden skin on. Or it may come cleaned, sliced and packed, ready to go straight into a pan.

The variety is a long way from how locals have traditionally enjoyed it.

Large yellow croaker has long been a familiar fish on the tables of Fujian and neighboring coastal areas, where steaming and braising are among the simplest ways of cooking it.

Ningde, in northeastern Fujian, is now trying to take that familiar fish farther.

The city produced 222,400 metric tons of large yellow croaker in 2025, about 80 percent of China's farmed output. The fish supports an industry covering breeding, aquaculture, processing and distribution, with its products reaching overseas markets as well.

Large yellow croaker once lived in abundance in the waters around Ningde. Guanjingyang, an inner area of Sandu Bay, was an important spawning ground for the species. Decades of intensive fishing, however, severely reduced wild stocks. By the 1980s, the fish had become increasingly scarce.

Researchers then began working on artificial breeding, trying to raise brood stock, induce spawning and improve the survival of young fish.

Around 1990, Ningde achieved large-scale artificial breeding, laying the foundation for the expansion of farmed large yellow croaker.

For Song Xiangguo, who has spent more than 30 years raising large yellow croaker in Ningde, the way to understand the fish is by eating it.

"The flesh is delicate but firm, breaking apart into pieces resembling cloves of garlic when cooked," says Song, manager of Guanjingyang Yellow Croaker Breeding Co.

Song says some farmed fish can become so close in appearance and texture to wild fish that an ordinary consumer may not be able to tell the difference.

The key to raising a better fish starts with the water around it, Song says.

His company has worked to improve water circulation around its cages, widening waterways and allowing stronger currents to pass through the farming area.

The changes have affected the fish, he says.

"With better water flow, the fish have a better physical shape, their color is better, and the flesh is firmer," Song says.

He says the survival rate has increased by about 10 percent, while selling prices are roughly 5 to 10 percent higher than in previous years.

Food safety is another part of the work.

The farm carries out its own monthly testing and tests fish before they are sold. Technical staff members also visit the farming area regularly to provide advice on disease prevention and treatment.

Song says the farm tries to minimize the use of medication. During periods of high temperatures, if the fish are not feeding well, farmers sometimes stop feeding them for several days and allow them to recover before resuming normal production.