Deep processing, innovation boost marine economy in Zhanmao

Zhanmao, a sub-district of Putuo district, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, has witnessed a big boom in its marine economy in recent years, thanks to its development of tuna deep processing and innovation in marine ecological high-tech.

Tuna deep processing contributes 1b yuan of annual output

Workers process the tunas at a plant in Zhejiang Rongchuang Food Industrial Co at Zhanmao Industrial Park. [Photo/zjzsrbs]

Frozen tunas turn into fillets in one processing plant and then become canned tuna in another. This is what the Zhejiang Rongchuang Food Industrial Co at Zhanmao Industrial Park work on every day.

Established in August 2012, the company specializes in the processing and sales of tuna and is one of the major tuna export companies in the park.

It processed more than 20,000 metric tons of tuna last year, with the company’s sales revenue hitting 290 million yuan ($43.18 million). 

"Tuna is a highly-nutritious pelagic commercial fish, and the processed tuna is one of the best sellers in the food markets of the United States, Japan and European countries," said Wang Jianqiang, director of the company.

The company spent 30 million yuan in building a canned tuna plant in November 2017, which was put into operation a year later and is the only one of its kind in Zhoushan. Before the plant was built, it mainly worked on producing fillets, which generates only a small portion of returns in the entire tuna processing value chain.

"A tuna's value doubles after it has been processed into fillets, and quadruples after the fillets have been turned into canned fish," said Wang.   

The company now has the capacity of producing 50 to 60 metric tons of fillets and 50,000 cans of tuna a day, and plans to introduce a high-tech canned tuna production line from overseas to enhance its tuna processing business.

There are five tuna processing companies in Zhanmao, which processed more than 20 percent of the nation's total tuna supplies last year and hit 1 billion yuan in output.

Zhanmao is thus expected soon to have another name card, the "home of tuna", in addition to the "home of squid" as it occupies more than 50 percent of the share in the nation's squid processing and sales market.