A cage feeding trial was conducted jointly by the American Soybean Association International Marketing (ASA-IM) program, the Wanzhou District Fishery Extension Center in Wanzhou, Chongqing Municipality, China, and the Wanzhou Xunfeng Agricultural Development Company to compare fingerling production of three strains of common carp in the new Three Gorges Reservoir. The Three Gorges Reservoir is currently under impoundment on the Yangtze River and has reached approximately 85% of its targeted full impoundment depth of 175 meters. Full impoundment is scheduled to be reached in 2009. Efforts are underway to establish sustainable cage aquaculture technologies for local farmers living adjacent to the reservoir by the time the reservoir reaches its maximum level.

ASA-IM participated in initial cage feeding trials with common carp in the Three Gorges Reservoir in 2005 and 2006. Three potential constraints to cage production of common carp in the reservoir were identified during these initial trials: 1) water temperature in Three Gorges Reservoir was consistently below the optimal level for common carp culture; 2) periodic silt water turbidity impacted fish health and growth; and 3) inbreeding of local strain common carp reduced fish growth and feed conversion efficiency. The 2007 trial was the first phase of a two-year trial to compare production performance of three strains of common carp to see if one or more responded better than the local common carp strain to the high silt and low water temperature conditions in Three Gorges Reservoir. The local common carp strain was used in the 2005 and 2006 ASA- IM cage trials. The local common carp strain was also compared against the Jiang common carp strain in one of the two 2006 trials.