LARGEMOUTH BASS Micropterus salmoides PRODUCTION IN CHINA

The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a freshwater fish native to North America. It is a top predator and has been widely stocked into > 50 countries, primarily as a sport fish. Around 1970 it was introduced into Taiwan from North America. The first successful artificial spawning in Taiwan occurred in 1983. It was then introduced into Guangdong Province, China in 1983, and has since become a popular culture species across the whole country, especially in the southtern. The annual production of freshwater bass (mainly largemouth bass)in 2013 was estimated to be approximate 340,000 metric tons.

The main culturing areas of the largemouth bass are Foshan city of Guangdong Province, Huzhou city of Zhejiang Province, Wujiang and Nanjing city of Jiangsu Province, and Mianyang city of Sichuan Province. In China, largemouth bass are spawned in ponds. Fry are reared in either concrete tanks (survival > 80%) or in nursery ponds (survival ~ 50%). Grow out is primarily in ponds but cage culture is utilized in the Yangtze River regions. Largemouth bass are also polyculture with other species such as grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and carp (Cyprinus carpio).

Until 2016, the culture of the largemouth bass in China was still dominated by the feeding of frozen trash fish or a mixture of fish and formulated diets. However, the use of formulated diets has become much more popular. Development of the genetically improved breeding variety "Youlu No. 1" was produced by the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou Province and has had a positive impact on production. In northern China the fish is marketed at > 500 g live weight, primarily through restaurants. However, in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Xi'an, smaller-sized fish (< 400 g) are more popular (Zhou et al., 2015). The fish are transported live by specialized transport companies and marketed live for preparation at home. The stable development of the largemouth bass aquaculture industry in China has improved, however, it still has some challenges such as genetic, feed, disease problems and lack of industries managements needs to be overcome.