Aquaculture tanks installed in Xinjiang have begun to rewrite a historical boundary of the Taklamakan Desert: producing animal protein on a scale where water is the scarcest resource. Starting in 2022, the system began to consolidate as a high-tech operation, and by 2024 regional production had advanced to almost 196.500 tons, with a 99% survival rate and recycled water as a central operating condition.
The production leap in Xinjiang occurs because the project treats each variable as an industrial parameter, not as a climate gamble. In the Taklamakan Desert, where the heat can exceed 50°C and drop sharply at night, the model isolates the tank from the saline soil and maintains a stable aquatic environment with recycled water and… Continuous control through sensors and automation.
The Taklamakan Desert and the problem that aquaculture needs to overcome.
The Taklamakan Desert covers an area of ​​approximately 337 km² and is described as one of the driest environments on the planet, with annual rainfall below 100 mm and intense temperature fluctuations.
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In this context, any productive expansion depends on water engineering, because available water is limited, contested, and expensive.
In Xinjiang, the strategy stems from a paradox: the subsoil may have high salinity, but the region also receives water inputs linked to snowmelt in mountain ranges, which creates opportunities for water collection and management.
The aquaculture tank model emerges as an attempt to convert these conditions into a controlled cycle, reducing losses due to evaporation and preventing infiltration into the soil.
How aquaculture tanks operate in the Taklamakan Desert
Aquaculture tanks in Xinjiang do not operate like traditional open ponds.
The drawing is described as enclosed unit, lined with waterproof membranes, to isolate the system from the saline soil below and prevent uncontrolled exchange of water and compounds.
Stability comes from the combination of pumping, irrigation, and biological filtration operating continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The goal is to maintain dissolved oxygen, salinity, and temperature within predictable ranges, even when the external environment changes drastically.
The most sensitive technical point is recycled water.
The project describes how over 90% of the water returns to the circuit after treatment in settling tanks and biological filters, removing waste and uneaten feed before returning the volume to the lakes.
In the desert, this isn’t optimization: it’s a prerequisite for viability.
99% survival rate and recycled water as performance metrics.
The 99% survival rate is treated as an indicator that repositions the discussion on biological risk in intensive aquaculture.
The material describes that this rate is rare on a large scale, citing that even in leading countries like Norway, typical rates can range from 60% to 80% depending on the environment and diseases.
This difference, in the case of Xinjiang, is attributed to environmental control.
The system trades natural variability for technical predictability., reducing temperature shocks and chemical instability that often put pressure on mortality in open models.
Recycled water is central to this performance because it limits the need for constant replenishment, reduces dependence on external sources, and stabilizes the internal ecosystem with microbiological support.
In a scenario where water is the most significant bottleneck, recycling above 90% becomes an operational rule, not a goal.
Production in Xinjiang, economic scale, and the cost of the model.
Production figures position Xinjiang as a major regional hub.
In 2023, aquaculture production reached approximately 184.000 tons and generated over $530 million in revenue; in 2024, it rose to nearly 196.500 tons, with the region described as the largest aquaculture hub in northwest China.
However, scaling up requires capital.
The document describes over $5 billion in investments over more than a decade, with approximately $1,6 billion concentrated in the last two years, as the model enters the commercialization phase.
It’s an equation of technology plus infrastructure, not just biological management.
This cost helps explain why the narrative is not a “fish in the desert” as a curiosity, but rather a test of competitiveness: the economic returns are presented as partial compensation for the investment, provided that the operation maintains stability, productivity, and keeps sanitary risks under control.
Internal microbiology and why the system doesn’t end at the tank rim.
A crucial layer of the model is biological.
The material describes how, within the biological settling and filtration units, microorganisms assume roles typical of aquatic ecosystems, decomposing waste, transforming toxic compounds, and stabilizing the environment.
The project mentions the formation of over 500 species of microorganisms in the system, with two practical effects: aiding in water treatment and generating natural nutrients, reducing complete dependence on industrial feed.
The idea is to make the operation more like a living cycle assisted by machines, not a static reservoir.
This is where recycled water takes on a second function: in addition to sustaining aquaculture tanks, the treated, nutrient-rich water is directed to support agricultural experiments in saline soils, expanding the ambition of the model beyond fish farming.
Sea rice in the Taklamakan Desert and the agricultural use of recycled water.
The extension of the cycle appears in rice cultivation in saline soil, described as “sea rice”.
The material states that tests of salt-tolerant rice in Xinjiang have been carried out since 2018, in areas where soil salinity can exceed 1,7%, a level at which conventional rice does not survive.
The proposal combines salt-tolerant varieties with nutrient-rich recycled water from aquaculture systems.
According to the text, the plants continued to grow and produce crops, and in 2023 the planted area reached approximately 2.000 hectares, with yields exceeding 8 tons per hectare, comparable to traditional regions.
The technical argument is one of integration: fish farming provides water and nutrients; rice cultivation improves soil structure and reduces salinity; the cycle, as a whole, reduces dependence on fresh water.
It is a system-stacking design, where the aquaculture tank becomes an input for a second production chain.
Limits and risks: when the desert demands its due.
Even with a 99% survival rate and over 90% water recycling, the model does not eliminate physical risk.
The material describes an incident in Hoton, at the southern end of the Taklamakan River, where a flash flood following exceptionally heavy rainfall swept through an aquaculture area, wiping out more than 600.000 fish and causing tens of millions of yuan in damages in a short period.
There is also structural pressure on water resources.
The text points out that agriculture consumes a large portion of the region’s water use and that the Tonan glaciers, cited as an important source of water supply, are shrinking due to climate change.
This means that future availability can be just as crucial as the current performance of aquaculture tanks.
Finally, the cost and governance of biological risk emerge as barriers.
The model is described as dependent on massive capital investment, rigorous management, and multiple layers of biological containment to prevent organisms from escaping into the surrounding environment.
In other words, replicating the Xinjiang case requires more than just copying the physical design of the tank.
What does the Xinjiang case signal for aquaculture in extreme areas?
This case repositions the debate on food production in arid zones because it shows a path of “infrastructure + ecological control,” where efficiency comes not from the environment, but from the system.
Aquaculture tanks are gaining platform status, not just facility status, by connecting 99% survival rates, recycled water, and productive expansion in a territory that, by definition, should block this type of operation.
At the same time, the material itself reinforces that the Taklamakan Desert remains unpredictable, and that the sustainability of the model depends on balancing technology, resources, and natural limits.
For those who follow aquaculture, the message is technical: High biological performance can only be sustained with water governance, containment, and costs that are compatible with revenue.
If you cover innovation in food and climate, it’s worth monitoring how Xinjiang maintains above 90% recycled water over time, how it sustains 99% survival in successive cycles, and how the Taklamakan Desert reacts when… Extreme events disrupt operations.
Do you think aquaculture tanks using recycled water can be replicated in other deserts, or does the Xinjiang case depend on conditions and investments that are difficult to reproduce?