Workers harvest fish at the "Genghai No 1" marine ranch complex in Yantai, Shandong province on Oct 30, 2020. The marine ranch serves as a multifunctional intelligent ecological platform for fishing, recreation, and scientific and technological research and development. [Photo/VCG]

The Yantai government recently implemented measures to bolster the construction of marine ranches to help promote the upgrading of modern fishing industry, local authorities reported.

Yantai is currently home to 30 marine ranches at the provincial level or above and 14 at the national level. Its various marine ranches cover a total area of 1.1 million mu (73,333.33 hectares), and the output value of the industrial chain has exceeded 50 billion yuan ($7.73 billion).

According to the plan, a total of 60 marine ranching demonstration zones at or above the provincial level will be built by 2025, including 30 at the national level.

More efforts will be made to promote the integration of marine ranches with cultural tourism and breeding aquatics to boost the high quality development of the marine economy.

Moreover, intelligent technologies will be applied to marine ranches, including 5G communications, artificial intelligence, and internet of things.

A big data platform for integrated marine management will also be built to provide remote services for fishing industry.