Prof. BAO Zhenmin, president of the College of Marine Life Sciences at Ocean University of China, gives an oral presentation at IHB, Oct. 19, 2020. (Credit: I

As the eighth keynote speaker of the 90th anniversary lecture series of Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. BAO Zhenmin gave a presentation on the review of the 60 years development of scallop aquaculture, on October 19.  

Prof. Bao is a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of the College of Marine Life Sciences at Ocean University of China. 

In his presentation, he reviewed the development of shellfish genetic breeding in China. The pioneering study was conducted by ZHANG Xi and WANG Rucai, two experts of shellfish. The study was later developed by generations of experts and scholars with several technological breakthroughs.  

In recent years, resorting to new genetic breeding technology, shellfish breeding in China has developed rapidly, and the yield and survival rate have been greatly improved. "Penglai Hong" is China's first new high-yield and disease-resistant species, and has guaranteed a quick recovery of the scallop industry.  

Scallop aquaculture becomes a burgeoning industry in China, and is reputed as the third wave of mariculture development. Prof. Bao hoped the younger generation could pick up the baton of their teachers, and take the responsibility for scallop aquaculture.