More than 600 aquatic farms are scattered along Bohai Bay in Xingcheng and most are small, family-run businesses.

Qu Bo farms sea cucumber over an area of six hectares. He said some of the animals had already died because of a lack of oxygen.

"The ice is too thick. We can not get enough seawater inside the sea cucumber farm, which is a disaster for me," he said. "I have raised sea cucumber for more than five years but it is the first time I have seen such thick ice. I am really worried and I hope the weather will warm up quickly."

Small farms have also resorted to posting advertisements on lampposts throughout the area in an effort to sell their fish and reduce potential losses.

Aquatic farms in Laizhou, a city on the coast of Shandong province, have all suffered major losses, too.

China Daily found many farmers knocking through the ice covering the ponds to try to give their sea cucumbers some fresh air. "Most of my cucumbers died because they didn't have enough oxygen, and more than 1,000 kg of my shellfish froze to death in the sea," said Sun Chungao, who opened his aquatic farm only last year.

Men Xueliang added: "Many aquatic farms are facing problems. We hope the government or banks will consider providing low-interest loans to help carry us through the rough times."

Those living in many fishing communities along the coast of the Bohai Bay are also hoping the ice melts soon so they can return to work.

In Bingjia, which has a population of about 1,900 and is the largest fishing village in Huludao, most households own a boat.

"Late December until March is our resting time every winter. Besides repairing our boats and fishing nets, we just play poker or watch TV to kill time," said Ma Zhenbiao, 65, as he sat with his wife, Guan Yuhua, on the couple's kang, a heated brick bed. "This winter is much colder than previous years, though, so we stopped fishing much earlier. If the ice does not melt soon, our resting time will be much longer."

Ma, who has fished all his life, has earned 8,000 yuan last year, which is a little less than in 2008.

Most of the boats in Bingjia returned from sea in time before the small village dock was frozen, but several boats were stranded by the sea ice and are still unable to come back.

"My neighbor has a big boat and often fishes in areas much further than us. He comes back a little later than us every year," said villager Chen Haiyin, 38. "But this year more than 10 km of Bohai Bay quickly froze. He was stranded in the sea for a couple of days. All he could do was hope the ice melted so he could come back but the sea ice just got thicker. Finally, he had no choice but to head for Weihai in Shandong to find a place to dock his boat."