Welcome to the Taklamakan Desert — a place locals call the “Sea of Death.” With minimal rainfall, extremely high evaporation rates, and sandstorms that strike without warning, it’s one of the harshest environments on Earth. For centuries, very little could survive here.
But that’s changing — dramatically.
It all started with the push of a few buttons. Somewhere deep in the Taklamakan, engineers activated pumps and monitoring systems, initiating one of the world’s most surprising experiments: desert aquaculture.
In specially constructed ponds, 100,000 sea fish fry were introduced — golden silk seabream, mudskippers, groupers, and more. The tiny fish instantly sprang to life, swarming around in search of food, forming a scene so vibrant that it sharply contrasted with the lifeless desert just meters away.
Despite the punishing conditions, these fry adapted astonishingly fast. With careful care, their survival rate soared to 99%. That marked the beginning of a new industry — one that now employs tens of thousands of people in Xinjiang.
By 2016, fishermen in the region were earning an average income of 16,600 yuan, or about $2,300 USD — significantly more than the local farming average. It was a complete economic shift. Lakes that had once been dormant or drying up were now dotted with fish farms, especially around Bosten Lake, Lop Nur, and Sayram Lake.
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