Chinese scientists have reported survival rates of up to 99% for marine fish raised in massive ponds built directly in the Taklamakan Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. The fish, including salmon, grouper, and seabream, were released into the barren landscape and kept there for a full year. What began as a seemingly impossible experiment has now developed into a commercial industry that produced an estimated 184,000 tons of seafood in 2023 alone. The project was driven by a growing food security challenge.
By the early 2020s, overfishing, pollution, and rising ocean temperatures were putting increasing pressure on China’s coastal seafood supply. Warmer waters were disrupting breeding cycles for species that depend on cold, clean, oxygen-rich conditions, while coral bleaching and toxic runoff further destabilized marine ecosystems. The FAO warned that global demand for seafood could double by 2035, while natural marine fish stocks could decline by around 30%. For China, the world’s largest consumer of fish, this was a direct threat to its food security.
Inland aquaculture offered a potential solution. Instead of relying on vulnerable coastlines, Chinese researchers began working on advanced water management systems, artificial seawater, filtration technology, and climate-controlled basins to raise fish far from the ocean. This strategy was also linked to China’s broader goal of food sovereignty,reducing dependence on foreign imports and international markets that could be disrupted by trade conflicts or supply chain problems. The key breakthrough came from understanding what was hidden beneath the desert surface.
Between 2018 and 2022, the Chinese Academy of Sciences launched a program to map underground water systems across parts of the Taklamakan. Using satellite-based radar, ground penetrating sensors, and other advanced equipment, researchers detected enormous underground formations containing flowing water. They found that the chemical composition of this water was surprisingly similar to seawater. By adding a few important minerals, including calcium and magnesium, they were able to create conditions that could support marine life in the middle of the desert
The scientists constructed massive ponds, some covering as much as 20 acres, and filled them with marine species.
To keep the system working, they combined AI technology with solar power to monitor water quality, temperature, feeding, and fish health. They also developed a closed loop system that allowed water to be treated, cleaned, and reused, reducing waste in an environment where water is already extremely limited. After just one year, the survival rate reportedly reached 99%,a figure higher than that seen in many coastal operations. Salmon, which were expected to struggle in such unfamiliar conditions, were reportedly growing faster and appearing healthier than some salmon raised in normal ocean conditions.
The desert-raised seafood was also said to have far less exposure to pollutants, microplastics, and unnecessary antibiotics common in some traditional farming environments. Because the system was carefully controlled, scientists could maintain cleaner conditions and provide the fish with carefully controlled nutrition. The results quickly attracted attention, with restaurants across China showing interest in this unusual source of seafood,some reportedly willing to pay premium prices for fish raised in these controlled desert conditions. In 2023 alone, Shinjang’s desert farms reportedly produced around 184,000 tons of seafood and began exporting their products to 14 countries
The story begins with the peculiar geography of the region.
Shinjang covers more than618,000 square miles,but only about9. 7% of it is truly suitable for people to live. Its bodies of surface water, including rivers flowing down from the mountains, reservoirs, anda long chain of salt lakes,cover around2,100 square miles. The region’s capital is farther from the sea than any other city on Earth.
The waters already support more than500 species of tiny organisms,providing the foundation for a natural food chain. But the water was undrinkable,too salty for people and too salty for growing crops. The surrounding land was also covered in saline and alkaline soil where almost nothing could grow
Researchers at a place called Hongchi Farm took an unusual approach. Instead of trying to remove the salt from the water,a process that is expensive and slow,they began looking at the composition of the water itself.
After a long series of experiments,partly funded by Guangdong province thousands of miles away on China’s actual coastline,they identified what the desert water was missing. The main missing elements were calcium, magnesium, and potassium ions. The researchers added the missing ions in carefully measured amounts, andthe treated water was then passed through a specially designed circulation system. The result was water with a chemical balance close enough to seawater for marine species such as grouper to survive in it
Weather conditions played a major role in the project’s success.
The regional meteorological bureau built a monitoring network across the farming areas and began providing 48-hour weather forecasts specifically for aquaculture operators. These forecasts included warnings about sandstorms, heat waves, sudden cold spells, and strong winds,giving farmers enough time to cover the ponds and protect the fish. The meteorologists were involved before the fish ever entered the desert,helping determine the right time to transport the young fish into the region. Moving live juvenile fish across such a long distance is one of the most dangerous stages of the entire process,and incorrect timing could lose an entire batch before it even reaches the ponds.
This weather forecasting was a major part of how the reported 99% survival rate was achieved
The desert actually contributes to the industry’s success in one important way. Disease is one of the biggest problems in marine aquaculture,and because a coastal farm connects directly to open water,it is also connected to wild fish populations,other farms,shipping traffic,andra river outflows. The isolation of the desert ponds provides a natural barrier against disease that does not exist for coastal operations
Since 2017,the government has been encouraging private investors to put money into aquaculture across China’s northwestern provinces. In 2023,Shinjang produced around183,000 tons of aquatic products worth about$530 million US,the highest output amongthe five provincial level regions in China’s Northwest.
Online sales of these products reached$54. 2 million during the same period,an increase of about16% compared with the previous year. The amount of water suitable for fish farming around the deserts has expanded to more than185,000 acres,an area slightly smaller than the entire land area of New York City. The local government expects the total value of the industry to eventually approach$3 billion,though that figure remains a forecast until actual results are counted.
Salmon farming alone has created jobs for more than3,000 people across the region. At one operation,the industry provides an additional$2,000 to$2,700 in income each year for each of30 local households
The biggest challenge,however,was never the water. It is the feed and the transportation. Fish cannot produce protein simply from sunlight.
They need specially prepared feed,most of which has to be brought in from other parts of the country. A large portion comes from areas near the coast,meaning it can travel nearly2,000 miles by rail before it ever reaches a fish in Shinjang. Then,once those fish are fully grown,the finished seafood has to travel most of that distance all over again to reach the cities and customers willing to pay for it. This means every kilogram of seafood produced in the Taklamakan desert carries an additional transportation cost that a farm located in coastal Fujian does not have to deal with.
That is why the species being raised are valuable per kilogram. Salmon, grouper, king prawns, abalone, lobster, green crab,and now even pearls cannot absorb the high cost of transporting feed into the desert and then shipping the finished product back out again. High value per kilogram is practically the entry requirement for any species farmed here
China’s aquaculture tradition dates back thousandsof years. Farming of fish and other aquatic animals began in China around3,500 BC with the farming of the common carp.
These carp were raised in ponds on silk farms where they were fed silkworm nymphs and their waste. By475 BC,Chinese politician Fan Lee had written what is believed to be the earliest known work about fish farming,called Yang Yuchingor Treatise on Fish Breeding,now preserved in the British Museum. During the Tang Dynasty,which lasted from618 to907 AD,the farming of common carp was banned because the Chinese word for common carp,sounded similar to the emperor’s family name. This ban eventually led to an important development.
It encouraged the Chinese to develop a farming method known as poly culture,in which several different fish species are raised together in the same pond. Farmers discovered that different species eat different types of food and occupy different parts of the pond,allowing several species to be raised together without heavily competing. Using this method,four different types of carp could be raised at the same time. Mud carp fed mainly at the bottom,while silver carp and big head carp fed in the middle levels.
Grass carp fed closer to the surface and mainly consumed plants. This system made the overall farming system more efficient. Another important development also took place during the Tang Dynasty,whena natural genetic mutation occurred in domesticated carp,eventually leading to the development of goldfish.
These early methods laid the foundation for the advanced aquaculture systems China would develop many centuries later,including the desert farms now producing seafood in one of the most unlikely environments on Earth
