In 2026, the Bohai Aquaculture Base in Shandong Province successfully introduced Shandong Wolize Biotechnology Co., Ltd.’s pure-line YY all-male Nile tilapia fry and intelligent recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). Through this in-depth technical collaboration, the base not only completely eliminated its reliance on exogenous hormones (17α-MT) but also, within a suburban industrial park where land resources are extremely limited, achieved key performance metrics including a 40 per cent increase in production capacity per cubic metre of water and a 24 per cent reduction in feed conversion ratio (FCR), successfully establishing a high-end blue protein production line with zero effluent discharge.

1. Client Background and Challenges

The Bohai Aquaculture Base in Shandong Province is committed to supplying high-quality, safe and fresh aquatic products to neighbouring cities. However, during the process of industrial upgrading, they face severe challenges on both biological and engineering fronts:

1.1. Overbreeding leading to a proliferation of ‘old fish’:

Traditionally, tilapia reared in mixed-sex ponds are highly prone to premature maturation and spawning, leading to uncontrolled stocking densities. A significant amount of feed energy is consumed in the development of gonads, resulting in market-sized fish that fall severely short of the required specifications.

1.2. Hormone Residues and Environmental Discharge Barriers:

The base previously attempted to use 17α-MT hormones to induce all-male fry, but the potential risk of drug residues meant it could not meet the stringent market entry standards of high-end supermarkets. At the same time, increasingly stringent environmental policies require aquaculture effluent to achieve ‘zero discharge’ or undergo purification treatment to extremely high standards.

1.3. Water quality collapse under high-density farming:

Traditional slow-flow ponds are unable to cope with the excretory load of high-density fish stocks, making it highly likely that ammonia-nitrogen levels at the pond bottom will exceed permissible limits, leading to frequent outbreaks of bacterial diseases.

“We need a 100 per cent hormone-free superior strain, as well as a water treatment system that can genuinely withstand the pressure of high-density feeding on limited land whilst being absolutely environmentally friendly. The traditional extensive model has already pushed us up against the ‘ceiling’ of production capacity and regulatory compliance.”

—— Mr Zhang, Production Director, Bohai Aquaculture Base, Shandong Province

2. Why Choose Us

After a six-month process of comparing solutions from multiple providers, the client ultimately made a firm decision to choose Wolize:

2.1 Pure-line YY all-male breeding technology:

Our solution utilises Mendelian genetics at the genetic level to provide high-quality stock with a natural all-male rate of over 98.5 per cent, fundamentally achieving true ‘zero hormone’ addition throughout the entire farming cycle and perfectly meeting high-end market access standards.

2.2 Extensive expertise in RAS engineering:

We possess proprietary, self-developed patented fluid control and water-propulsion aeration equipment, which is perfectly suited to the high metabolic characteristics of all-male tilapia. It offers extremely high space utilisation (area efficiency) and robust waste collection and discharge capabilities.

Our Solution: Deep Synergy Between High-Quality Breeding Stock and Precision Engineering

In response to the client’s requirements, we delivered a comprehensive, turnkey engineering solution featuring clear architecture and illustrated documentation:

(1). Stock Replacement: Introduction of YY super-all-male tilapia fingerlings

By utilising offspring (XY) bred from homozygous YY parents, we have completely severed the natural reproductive cycle in the ponds. The male fish channel all their energy into muscle growth, demonstrating exceptional growth rates and highly consistent harvest sizes, whilst achieving optimal feed conversion ratios.

(2). Core Equipment: 3D Hydrodynamic Rearing Ponds

Customised fluid control and water-propulsion aeration devices were installed within truncated octagonal ponds. These devices create a gentle micro-shear flow at the pond bottom, rapidly propelling large particles of uneaten feed and faeces produced by the all-male tilapia into the central swirl separator, endowing the system with exceptional self-cleaning capabilities and preventing the anaerobic fermentation of organic matter at the pond bottom.

(3). Microecological Foundation: Data-Driven Water Quality Regulation

Moving away from ‘experience-based water monitoring’, the project introduced Redundancy Analysis (RDA) and the Shannon/Simpson diversity indices to dynamically monitor the nitrifying bacterial communities within the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR). This enables precise early warning of water quality fluctuations, ensuring the system possesses robust ecological resilience when coping with high ammonia-nitrogen shocks during periods of high-density feeding.

3. Implementation and Collaboration

Spanning six months, this project demonstrated an efficient collaborative timeline and key project highlights:

Months 1-2: Completion of water treatment capacity calculations for the site, 3D workshop layout modelling, and optimisation of the pipework network’s hydrodynamics (friction head loss).

Months 3-4: Installation and commissioning of the core RAS water treatment equipment (high-density rotary drum microfiltration units and MBBR) and the bottom-feed water circulation system.

Month 5: Biofilm formation commenced in the system whilst water was circulating; RDA micro-ecological community diversity tests met the required standards; and the first batch of hormone-free, all-male fry were successfully introduced into the water.

Month 6 and onwards: Over 95 per cent of the aquaculture water is being recycled; the system is operating stably; and all indicators have reached their design peak values.

4. Quantifiable outcomes

Following validation over a full rearing cycle, the project presents a clear and reliable comparison of data dashboards before and after implementation:

Table 1: Detailed Comparison of Farming Conditions

5. Customer Testimonial

“This represents a revolutionary industrial upgrade. Wolisze provides not merely fish fry or equipment, but an ecological algorithm that seamlessly integrates life sciences with fluid engineering. Now, our all-male tilapia not only grow rapidly and have firm flesh free from muddy odours, but have also successfully entered the fresh produce supply chains of the city’s most prestigious supermarkets, thanks to their ‘hormone-free’ and ‘zero-discharge’ environmental credentials!”

—— Li Bin, Co-founder and General Manager of the Bohai Aquaculture Base in Shandong Province

6. Contact Us

If you are interested in all-male tilapia farming technology or industrialised recirculating aquaculture systems, please feel free to contact us at any time. Our technical team will provide you with end-to-end professional consultancy services, enabling you to transcend the land and environmental constraints of traditional aquaculture and achieve a dual leap in both production capacity and profitability at your facility.