Yantai Deep-Sea Aquaculture Seminar: Three Changes in Mooring Chains
From May 15th to 16th, 2026, the first Deep-Sea Aquaculture High-Quality Development Seminar was held in Yantai. The conference, hosted by the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association and the Yantai Municipal People's Government, focused on equipment, technology, and models in deep-sea aquaculture.
Why Yantai?
The choice of Yantai as the venue for this coference was not accidental.
Leading Industry Scale Nationwide: Yantai boasts 22 national-level marine ranching demonstration zones, ranking first among prefecture-level cities nationwide. By 2025, it had cumulatively built 34 deep-sea aquaculture facilities, accounting for over 85% of the province's total, with aquaculture water volume exceeding 1.2 million cubic meters. The "100-Cage Plan" has a total investment of approximately 10 billion yuan, and the first "Jinghai 001" 70,000-cubic-meter intelligent cage was put into operation in 2021.
Pioneering Institutional Innovation: The Yantai Free Trade Zone, in conjunction with the China Classification Society, pioneered a marine ranching platform ownership confirmation system nationwide, solving the problems of asset confirmation and financing for deep-sea cages. At the end of 2023, the nation's first marine economic development zone—the "Blue Granary" Marine Economic Development Zone—was approved and established in Changdao.
Marine engineering companies are driving cross-industry development. Following President Xi Jinping's inspection of CIMC Raffles' Yantai base in 2018, this globally leading marine engineering company accelerated its shift from oil to fishing, applying the technology of its "Blue Whale 1" drilling platform to fishery equipment. The design and construction of the "Jinghai 001" came entirely from the marine engineering system. (SMEOCEAN Group has long supplied mooring chains to CIMC Raffles.)
Yantai focuses on cage aquaculture, while Qingdao has the "Guoxin 1" aquaculture vessel. The two cities collaborate to form a core equipment industry cluster for deep-sea aquaculture in China.
What information was released at the meeting?
1. The "Hundred Cage Plan" has entered a substantial implementation stage.
During the meeting, the first intelligent cage of the "Hundred Cage Plan," "Jinghai 001," was officially delivered. This cage has a water volume of 70,000 cubic meters, making it one of the largest mass-produced deep-sea intelligent cages in Asia. According to publicly available information, the "100-Container Plan" aims to deploy 100 sets of deep-sea aquaculture facilities.
2. Academicians and Experts Clarify 10-20 Year Strategic Goals
Academician Mai Kangsen of the Chinese Academy of Engineering proposed at the meeting that a large-scale deep-sea aquaculture platform should be built within 10 to 20 years to form an industrialized marine aquaculture production cluster.
3. Multi-Party Collaboration Among Government, Enterprises, Industry, Academia, and Research
The Yantai Municipal Bureau of Ocean Development and Fisheries gave a special presentation, and several cooperation projects were signed on-site. CIMC Raffles, as the core enterprise, applied its marine engineering equipment technology to the fisheries sector.
Three Impacts on the Mooring Chain Industry
Impact 1: Increased Technological Threshold
Currently, domestic deep-sea aquaculture projects generally refer to the Norwegian standard NS9415 when designing mooring systems. This standard has clear requirements for safety factors (≥3.0), fatigue testing, and third-party certification, which differs from traditional marine anchor chains (safety factor 2.5-2.8, no mandatory fatigue testing).
Impact 2: Demand Volume is Clearly Expected
Taking the "Jinghai 001" as a reference (4-6 mooring chains, each 300-500 meters long and 76mm in diameter), the mooring chain consumption for a single net cage is approximately 80-120 tons. The "100-Cage Plan" alone, with 100 net cages, will require approximately 8,000-12,000 tons of mooring chains.
Impact 3: Industrial Clusters are Forming
Yantai focuses on net cages, while Qingdao has the "Guoxin 1" aquaculture work vessel. The collaboration between the two cities will lead to a more concentrated demand for supporting industries and closer supply chain cooperation.
Summary:
Deep-sea aquaculture is a strategic direction for the next 10-20 years. As a core supporting equipment, mooring chains are facing the dual changes of upgraded technical standards and expanded demand. For those in the mooring chain industry, this is a market worth continuous monitoring.
More Links:
First Atlantic Salmon Harvested Onboard Chinese Aquaculture Vessel: What the Data Shows
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