The fishery sector in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, has seen robust growth throughout the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period.

The output of aquatic products from the city in 2020 is expected to exceed 530,000 metric tons and 11.5 billion yuan ($1.67 billion) in value.

Huzhou's special aquaculture area has grown from 466,000 mu ( 31,066.6 hectares) in 2015 to 565,000 mu in 2020, an increase of 21.2 percent.

Its annual output of yellow-head catfish, American Black Bass, blue shrimps, and river crabs accounted for 91 percent, 86 percent, 68 percent, and 64 percent, respectively, of Zhejiang's total output.

The city has been adhering to a green development path while working to develop its fishery sector.

For example, a special campaign has been launched in Huzhou to strengthen the treatment of wastewater spawned by aquaculture.

Shen Lianbao, a local farmer, said that the untreated wastewater contains nitrite, ammonia nitrogen, phosphine, and more, which will have a huge negative impact on the environment if it is directly discharged into rivers.

In addition, efforts have also been made to optimize the industrial structure and improve production efficiency via technological upgrading.

Currently, the annual outputs of the aquatic products processing, aquatic feed processing, and leisure fishing sectors in Huzhou stand at 4 billion yuan, 3 billion yuan, and 1 billion yuan, respectively.