Recently, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the list of 100-million-yuan Villages of Rural Featured Industries, among which Renhai village (EEL) in Shunde and Qingqi village (FRY) in Sanshui are selected.

Renhai Eel: from Shunde to the world

Located in the north of Leliu Street in Shunde District, Renhai village covers an area of 4.11 square kilometers. Close to the Shunde Waterway, the village is densely networked by rivers, weaving a unique landscape of the village.

Renhai Village (Photo/Foshan Release)

In the 1980s, villagers saw a business opportunity in eels. Since eels were raised in cement ponds abroad, farming through mud ponds was still a mystery. However, they decided to make a breakthrough and start to do experiements in 1983. After countless trials, eel farming in the mud pond has sucessfully achieved larger scale and received worldwide recognition.

Renhai Eel (Photo/Foshan Release)

With the development of Shunde eel industry, a complete eel industry chain and industry service system has been gradually formed, such as eel seedling cultivation, breeding, feed production, roasting process and delivery. This has also created an irreplaceable position and great influence of Shunde eel industry in the domestic and even international market.

In 2018, the eel farming area of Renhai Village exceeded 4118 acres. In the same year, Renhai Village was named "Eel Village of China" and "Shunde Eel" became a national geographical indication protection product.

Qingqi Village: Waterlands in Foshan

Covering an area of 28.1 square kilometers, Qingqi Village of unique landscape is located where the Beijing River and the Xijiang River merge. Overlooking the village, a dike fence has been built on this narrow peninsula, and beyond it lies the surging river.

Qingqi Village (Photo/Foshan Release)

In 2017, Sanshui Qingqi modern aquatic production base was named as "Guangdong Modern Fishery Industrial Demonstration Park". The park has 3295 acres of farming, of which the aquaculture area covers 2141 acres.

Qingqi Village (Photo/Foshan Release)

Embraced with high-quality water source, aquatic farming is a key field in Sanshui's agricultural development. So far, Sanshui has cultivated fine breeds instead of traditional breeds. In terms of largemouth bass, the farming area has increased from 329 acres to 1647 acres in two years, and the income has increased nearly threefold. In the future, Sanshui will continue to promote the "smart fishing core" model to other towns. By bringing more leading enterprises and processing industries, Sanshui will work on creating more channels for increasing rural incomes.