A research team in Yunxi county, Shiyan of Hubei province, has made progress in artificially breeding mandarin fish, a notoriously difficult species to care for that makes a tasty and nutritious dish.

"After nearly two years of research and development, we have finally overcome the technical challenges of artificial breeding and feed domestication of mandarin fish," said Huang Yongtao, deputy director and researcher at the Hubei Institute of Fishery Sciences.

The fish are easy to eat, delicious and rich in nutrients. Their market price ranges from 50 to 120 yuan ($6.8 to $16.3) per kilogram, making them a promising species for aquaculture. However, they are notoriously difficult to raise due to their stubborn feeding habits — they only eat live fish that suit their taste and refuse to consume artificial feed.

In 2023, Yunxi county collaborated with the institute to tackle this challenge.

The expert team developed a suspension feed that floats and sinks in water so that the mandarin fish think the feed is alive.

This innovation massively increased the success rate of mandarin fish domestication to over 80 percent and reduced the domestication period to 21 days.

Huang said Hubei is an important production base of fresh fish in China, and the promotion of this technology will improve the self-sufficiency level of the species.