Ye Qichang explains goldfish watching knowledge for everyone. Photo by Zhang Liqing, a reporter from Southeast Net
Southeast.com, July 16 (Reporter Zhang Liqing of this website) In Fuzhou, Fuzhou ornamental goldfish cultivation techniques have become the sixth batch of intangible cultural heritage protection projects in Fuzhou. Fuzhou goldfish has many varieties, high grades and large production. Suzhou-Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Fuzhou four major goldfish producing areas are very dazzling. There is a saying in the goldfish breeding industry: “The world‘s goldfish look at China, and Chinese goldfish look at Fuzhou.” Fuzhou goldfish is famous at home and abroad, so how did Fuzhou goldfish “swim” to the world?
“The Record of Differences in Fujian Production” wrote: “‘Pen fish’ means goldfish, and there are dozens of people in Fuzhou Nantai Yinxiangpu.” In the middle of the last century, the folk goldfish farming in Fuzhou was still concentrated in Yinxiangpu (now Taijiang, Fuzhou). District Guangda Road area). Villagers set up large water tanks in their backyards to breed goldfish, and sell them on the street to subsidize their families. In the 1990s, with the rapid development of the domestic economy, the goldfish market was booming. Ye Qichang, the honorary president of the Goldfish Branch of the China Fisheries Association and the inheritor of Fuzhou’s traditional goldfish cultivation skills, introduced to reporters. Just in May of this year, the first Fuzhou Goldfish Industry Labor Skills Competition also opened eyes to many citizens. More than 40 employee representatives from the goldfish breeding industry participated in the competition. The competition included gold fry selection and sub-competition, gold fry classification and inventory efficiency. Competition, gold fry packaging and packaging competition and gold fry nursery operation knowledge competition, etc.
Ingenuity cultivates Lanshou’s fame
According to reports, there are about 260 kinds of goldfish in China according to their colors. Among them, there are more than 10 kinds of “Fuzhou Lanshou” cultivated by Ye Qichang, which are deeply loved by fisheries and the public.
More than 30 years ago, the first batch of Japanese Rancho goldfish brought back to Fuzhou from a Japanese auction and handed over to Ye Qichang for experimental breeding, but failed to spawn. The Japanese claimed that Rancho was revered as the “king of goldfish” in Japan, and that there would be no second generation after leaving Japan. Naturally, Ye Qichang didn’t believe it. He carefully took care of the second batch of more than 10 fish. One of the females successfully laid eggs and hatched more than 20,000 young seedlings.
However, the Japanese Rancho did not meet his aesthetic standards at the time. “The head is smoother and there are fewer sarcomas. We all jokingly call it a’monk’s head’.” How can these 20,000-tailed young seedlings breed a favorite goldfish?
“Flower Orchid Life” cultivated by Ye Qichang, photo courtesy of the interviewee
According to the standards of the time, the precious goldfish should have a stout body, a well-developed head, a thick tail stalk, and a tensioned tail. “There are no shortcuts to cultivating beautiful goldfish. You can only raise them slowly, observe them, and keep screening. The whole process is better than beauty contests.” Ye Qichang said, “choosing” is the most important skill in cultivating goldfish. Hours, especially in summer, the task of picking seedlings is the most onerous. Sometimes, a fish species that is clearly optimistic may still fail after countless hard days and nights. There are many rules for feeding, and he keeps practicing, and he works both through trials and tribulations.
By the 1990s, Ye Qichang finally formed his own unique Lanshou goldfish style, which was respected by the industry as the “old version of China Life”. Not satisfied with the status quo, he boldly innovated and cultivated varieties such as “five-flower orchid longevity” and “black orchid longevity”, making the “Fuzhou orchid longevity” series more colorful.
“At that time, Minhou had thirty or forty goldfish fishing grounds, but most of the products were sold to Southeast Asian countries. Domestic fish merchants went to Fuzhou but couldn’t find goldfish.” Zhang Wenchun, president of the Minhou County Goldfish Association, introduced at that time. , Fuzhou goldfish is in short supply in the domestic market, and the price even exceeds the export price of foreign trade.
At the same time, the Fuzhou goldfish industry has entered a period of rapid development and is moving towards industrialization. The concept of goldfish breeders has undergone a qualitative leap. From extensive farming to intensive, professional and ecological farming, a large number of professional breeding talents have emerged, actively participating in various competitions and exhibitions. Beginning in 2010, Fuzhou Goldfish has successively won many awards including champion, runner-up, and third runner-up in the National Goldfish Koi Competition.
The “Red and Black National Lion” cultivated by Ye Qichang Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Today, Fuzhou goldfish farms have now grown to nearly 60, with a breeding area of more than 2,000 acres, an annual output of more than 10 million high-end goldfish of various types, and an annual output value of more than 400 million yuan. Many of these goldfish are exported to more than a dozen countries and regions such as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and the annual export earns more than 30 million U.S. dollars, accounting for nearly 80% of the country’s high-end goldfish exports, firmly locking the country’s first position. In 2013, the China Fisheries Association named Fuzhou the “Goldfish Capital of China”. “The world‘s goldfish see China, and the Chinese goldfish see Fuzhou” has become a slogan circulating in the industry.
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