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Fishermen are busy sorting out black carp. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

Fishermen in Wangjiangjing town, Xiuzhou district, Jiaxing were busy harvesting black carp on Dec 21, local media reported.

Early in the morning, fishermen at a local black carp breeding base started casting a net and as they drew the net in, the calm water was disturbed by jumping black carp.

The smaller fish in the net will be released back into the pond, while the larger ones will be sold later.

"About 30,000 kilograms of fish were caught with just one net," said Yu Laixing, who is in charge of the breeding base, adding that about 1,350 kg of black carp will be caught per mu this year, 100 kg higher than last year.

Yu noted that 80 percent of the catches will be sold to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, while the remaining ones will be made into dried fish, which will be available around the country.

Cured black carp are air-dried. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

After the Winter Solstice, the 22nd solar term of the year, began this year on Dec 21, Jiaxing natives started preparing for the Spring Festival, for which dried black carp is indispensable.

Yu, also an inheritor of Jiaxing dried black carp preparation techniques, said that curing is the key to making dried black carp. While preserving the traditional curing process and the principle of natural drying, Yu has improved fresh-keeping and degreasing technology and created Meijiadang-branded dried black carp.

Yu's dried black carp have hit the shelves of more than 100 supermarkets in East China with annual sales of around 80,000 dried black carp.

Black carp breeding is a mainstay of the fishing industry in Wangjiangjing town, where a black carp industry has taken shape and several local brands have been created.

Wangjiangjing currently has 400 hectares reserved for black carp breeding, with an annual output of 7,000 metric tons and annual sales amounting to 200,000 dried black carp.