[Host: Burmie]

Wow, so many fish here. One, two, three. Ouch! So heavy! 

Great! So how big are these white fish? How do they look like? Let’s get on the boat and learn about the fishing process. There are so many fish here, tons of them, they are very lively! The lake is so clear that you can see some fish swimming with sparkling scales. Wow, lots of fish! 

What kind of fish are you picking? Why do you put them back? Are they too small? How many fish did I just catch? Why can’t we go further to get more fish? He said I helped him a lot just now.

Tuerbate / Deputy Director of the Production Department of Sayram Lake Fishery Company

We have caught over 200 fish. Since the lake is rough because of stormy weather today. Safety comes first. We won’t venture to the distant location today. Normally, we go fishing in the morning.

[Host: Venus]

Why?

The fish needs to be sent to different locations across the country and served on the dining table within 24 hours after being caught. Thus, after fishing every morning, we will ensure the fish can be promptly delivered to our food processing factory.

[Host: Burmie]

The fishermen just told me that the fish here are not fed with feeds. The whitefish found here, in fact, grow naturally and are recognized as organic fish.

The source of Sayram Lake consists of melted ice and snow water, resulting in lake water with a remarkable transparency of 12 meters without any impurities. The northern whitefish, also called Coregonus peled, in the Lake feeds on plankton and is purely ecologically cultivated, well-known as the "Queen of Cold-Water Fish". Its meat is delicious, with no thorns between the muscles, and it has a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The whitefish is ideal for cooking various delectable cuisines, including sashimi, casseroles, and steaming dishes.

[Host: Venus]

In the past, no fish can survive in Sayram lake because slightly salty, and the water temperature is relatively low. 

Today, Sayram Lake has been developed into a high-yield fish breeding base, generating substantial economic benefits for local people. The journey has been marked by numerous failures. With persistence and perseverance, what seemed impossible was made possible.

Hou Yujun / Engineer of Sayram Lake Fishery Company

At that time, we lacked proper facilities and equipment. We had to set up tents by the lake. We used incubators to accommodate the eggs and brought water from elsewhere for the incubation process, which required round-the-clock attention. The hatching period of the whitefish is winter. The extreme coldness made the workers suffer a lot. Besides this, the environment was humid, making the work even more challenging. After nearly a decade of research, we have grasped a more comprehensive knowledge of the artificial insemination and hatching of the white fish. They are incredibly fragile, measuring only seven or eight millimeters in length. They are as small as a pin. A seedling as big as this would hardly survive in Sayram Lake. We have also gone through many years of research, and now we can basically do it when the seedlings are up to 4 to 5 centimeters long. With this size, the survival rate of the seedlings will be the highest.

[Host: Burmie]

It takes nearly six months for the whitefish to reach a size of 4 centimeters before they can be released into Sayram Lake.

Hou Yujun / Engineer of Sayram Lake Fishery Company

The reproduction process is extremely slow. In general, about 50% of them have to be eliminated.

[Host: Burmie]

Will you be very disappointed if the fish are not growing big?

After so many years, I now have a special feeling for the whitefish. It is a very special fish, and it requires specific water temperature condition, bait condition, and water quality condition, which are rigorous. This is a long story back in the 80s. The local aquatic department tried to stock Sayram Lake with many kinds of fish, the carp, grass carp, and crucian carp live in ambient water, which require higher temperatures. For example, carnivorous fish such as gold trout and red trout are not able to survive the environment of Sayram Lake. Sayram Lake is a closed lake with very few external nutrients. If predatory fish come in, the ecosystem will be destroyed. After we put the whitefish in Sayram Lake, we’ll stop feeding them, that is, there is no artificial intervention. After the fish is released, it is like natural stocking. Secondly, this whitefish is a filter feeder, which can be used for water purification. Therefore, the whitefish is suitable for Sayram Lake, and vice versa.

I think they are destined to be together!

The fish found its home at Sayram lake, and this person also realized his dream which is connected with fish. Hou Yujun stayed in Xinjiang after graduation. He has been focusing on researching the incubation and rearing of Coregonus peled, whitefish.

First of all, I came to Xinjiang for college and decided to stay here. I also like the climate and people of Xinjiang very much. First of all, the people here are simple and genuine, and the environment is great. I like it very much. The staff here are 90% locals, like the Kazakh, Mongolian, Uyghur, and Hui. The rest are Han.

 [Host: Venus]

When will you feel the happiest?

The happiest thing is that we put our research results into the production. This is our greatest happiness.

 [Host: Venus]

We really appreciate that people here can leverage this special condition. At the same time, they can also take into account the ecological environment conservation.

[Host: Burmie]

I think it's not easy to develop a brand-new industrial chain by importing some whitefish eggs from Russia, developing a breeding base here, and selling the products abroad.

[Host: Venus]

Yes, when the fish are caught, some of them will be sent to restaurants directly and some will be processed and developed into other by-products.

After the whitefish is sent to the processing plant, it has to be scaled, gilled, eviscerated, cleaned and then sorted.

[Host: Burmie]

What’s this?

Li Miaochun / Deputy Director of the Processing Plant of Sayram Lake Fishery Company

This is our fish roe. There is fish oil, which will be given to manufacturers to make cosmetics. There are also entrails that can be made into cat and dog food, and fish scales can be made into snacks. Nowadays, we can see that manufacturing staff will put the whitefish into package boxes after weighing it down and adding ice, but where do they actually sell it? And what kind of products will be produced?

[Host: Venus]

We’ve seen many whitefish products here, so where do you sell the products?

Zhang Liucai / Sales Manager of Sayram Lake Fishery Company

We mainly sell to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xi'an, and Chengdu. We also sell abroad, mainly in Finland, selling our whitefish roe. We know that Finland is also a place to produce fish roe, but why this country loves our fish roe? First of all, Finland has faith in our fish quality, which is completely different from that of other fish. It is green, organic, pollution-free, and the taste is also very good and chewy.

There is a saying that "Green mountain and nice water to raise good fish." Sayram Lake’s unique geographical advantages, suitable for ecological farming, and now it has become China's famous natural breeding base of cold-water fish. Before I learned about Xinjiang, I would have assumed it to be a relatively isolated place with limited international exchanges. However, upon visiting, I was surprised to discover that even in a small town in Wenquan County of Bortala, the people of Xinjiang are able to introduce fish eggs from Russia. Through the dedication of generations of engineers and the utilization of natural resources, the white fish has been transformed into another business card representing Xinjiang outreach to the world. We have truly experienced the industriousness and innovative spirit of the Xinjiang people.