Zhoushan to directly import live seafood

[Photo/VCG]

Residents of Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province now have the chance to buy fresh live imported seafood at the local market thanks to a designated monitoring area for live aquatic animals located in the Zhejiang-Taiwan Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in the city's Putuo district.

The area was recently approved by the General Administration of Customs, enabling live aquatic animals to be directly imported to Zhoushan via the monitoring area. 

Fresh live seafood such as lobsters from New Zealand, salmon from Chile and geoducks from North Korea are quite popular in Zhoushan, but previously had to be transferred from Ningbo or Shanghai due to Zhoushan's lack of import qualifications, which led to higher prices, said a local aquatic product trader. 

"For a kilo of lobsters from New Zealand, we have to pay around 80 yuan ($11.57) more in Zhoushan than in Shanghai," the trader said. 

The area is used for seafood imported by sea, according to the Zhoushan Customs, adding that they are preparing to apply for air transport certification so that live seafood can be imported by air when the Putuoshan Airport begins offering international flights, which will increase the survival rate of the aquatic animals and further cut prices.

"We are negotiating with Taiwan and Japan to import our first live aquatic animals next month," said a general manager of a local logistics company. 

The Zhejiang-Taiwan Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is an important part of the city's Zhejiang International Agricultural Product Trade Center. According to the center's leading group office, the operation of the monitoring area for live aquatic animals will boost the development of the center and the aquatic product industry of Zhoushan.