Putuo, a district in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, takes three years to renovate the 611-year-old Shenjiamen fishing port. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

Putuo, a district in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, has taken three years to renovate the 611-year-old Shenjiamen fishing port, local media outlets reported on Aug 20.

Shenjiamen fishing port is one of the three largest fishing ports in the world. In recent years, the obsolete wharfs, coastal lines, and storage yards in the fishing port were not only an eyesore, but also had hidden safety hazards.

The direct discharge of wastewater into rivers, the vegetation damage, and the vast amounts of garbage also severely affected the wetlands' ecological effects in the fishing port.

At the end of 2016, Putuo started renovating Shenjiamen.

In addition to the usual practice of waterway dredging and embankment reinforcement, the district also launched a coastal eco-friendly corridor program to afforest and beautify coastal lines, as well as dismantled the outdated facilites left by companies that had relocated to other places.

One grab dredger, with a total tonnage of 1,500, removes the sediment and silt at the fishing port all year round, with an annual dredging volume of 500,000 cubic meters, while small cleaning boats are dispatched to collect floating garbage.

To avoid the discharge of wastewater from ships to sea, Putuo has also installed oil and sewage separators for more than 800 ships in the fishing port.

In just three years, 150,000 square meters of wetlands have been restored, 3.52 million cu m of sediment and silt have been removed, 18 abandoned wharfs have been torn down, as well as 3.5 kilometers of pipelines have been paved to intercept wastewater.

Through these renovations, Shenjiamen fishing port has regained its good air and water quality. In the future, it will develop night tours and other tourism products to reproduce the prosperity of the ancient fishing port.