A famer catches a hairy crab developed in Xinjian town, Yixing. [Photo/wxrb.com]
Yixing, a county-level city in Wuxi, is developing its hairy crab industry in an effort to raise production capacity, boost the economy in rural areas, and increase wealth for rural residents.
The hairy crab -- also known as the Chinese mitten crab -- is one of the most prized delicacies in eastern Chinese cuisine, most notably in Shanghai and Jiangsu province. Roughly the size of a human palm, the crab has a dark green back, golden claws and is covered in distinctive brown fur.
The crabs, which are artificially fed and kept in fresh water, reach maturity in fall and are best consumed during the months of October and November, when they are full of roe.
The hairy crab is one of the most prized delicacies in eastern Chinese cuisine. [Photo/wxrb.com]
Wuxi has an area of about 10,000 hectares which is used to raise the crabs, 80 percent of which is located in Yixing, especially Xinjian town, said Chu Shengfeng, chairman of the hairy crab branch of the Wuxi Agricultural and Commercial Association and head of the Yixing Shengfeng Ecological Hairy Crab Farming Professional Cooperative.
Chu said that Xinjian town has been farming hairy crabs for over 30 years. Currently, over 1,000 farmers are managing over 1,200 hectares of hairy crabs in Xinjian town. The annual output value of the animal can be as high as 200 million yuan ($30.4 million).
The quality of the crabs grown in Xinjian town has been known to rival the ones developed in Yangcheng Lake in northeastern Suzhou, thanks to the water quality and habitat of West Taihu Lake providing a perfect living environment for the crabs.
A hairy crab farm in Xinjian town, Yixing. [Photo/wxrb.com]
Modern technologies have been applied to control the water environment for crab farming. Chu said that farmers can use computers to easily obtain data regarding water pollution, pH value and temperature, and control oxygen pumps or water wheels in crab ponds at the same time.
Chu also noted that the Shengfeng Hairy Crab has been exported to countries in Southeast Asia since 2016. At present, the hairy invertebrates bring in more than $6 million each year, with a total export volume of over 150 tons.
