Ningde develops genomic breeding chips for large yellow croakers

Researchers in Ningde, East China's Fujian province, have developed a series of genomic breeding chips for large yellow croaker, a key aquaculture species, to improve disease resistance and breeding efficiency in the sector.

Development of the chip series began in 2016 through a collaboration between researchers at Xiamen University's College of Ocean and Earth Sciences and local aquaculture companies under what is now the State Key Laboratory of Mariculture Breeding.

The laboratory identified disease-resistant broodstock in 2018 and began selective breeding. By 2019, survival rates among offspring had increased by 35.57 percent. At the end of 2021, the team developed a domestically produced liquid-phase breeding chip, known as "GenoBaits Large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) SNP50K, GBLC 50K".

The breeding program forms part of a broader marine technology initiative in Ningde. To support the commercialization of marine technologies, Ningde established a marine innovation institute in 2025, focusing on marine environmental management, aquatic breeding, ecological aquaculture, and marine bio-industry research.