A fish farm in Hunan Province has become a focus of social media interest because of an unusual method of production.
According to foreign media reports, the farm near the city of Changsha provides about 5,000 kilograms of chillies to its fish each day. The owners said that this practice improves the flavour of the fish and gives their colour a brighter appearance.
The 10-acre pond is under the management of Jiang Sheng, a farmer aged forty, and his associate, Kuang. They state that they rear more than two thousand fish and supply them with several varieties of chillies.
Kuang states that the fish prefer chillies to grass. Jiang states that fish do not possess a sense of taste comparable to that of humans and identify food mainly through smell, so the heat of the chillies does not cause distress.
The owners claim that vitamins in the chillies support the growth of the fish, improve their health and allow them to reach maturity at a faster rate. They also state that the use of chillies as feed produces softer and more flavourful flesh.
