The 2026 International Smart Fisheries and Aquaculture Conference hosted by China Agricultural University opened in Beijing under the theme Digital Drive · Smart Empowerment · Building a New Future for Global Fisheries. Over 400 experts from home and abroad attended to discuss technological innovation in the sector. At the opening ceremony, the university’s National Digital Fishery Innovation Center launched Fanli Large Model 4.0, an upgraded version with a 397 billion parameter scale that covers eight core aquaculture dimensions and integrates knowledge of 101 species, forming the most complete industry vertical knowledge graph. The conference also saw the release of the world’s first open smart fisheries data set, comprising 116,000 images and 698,000 task annotations, which is now available globally for use and collaboration. Chen Wei, president of China Agricultural University, said deeper cross-regional exchanges are needed to help industry players benefit from digital transformation. Manuel Barri of FAO stated digital change supports sustainable fisheries development, and the two organizations will collaborate on blue transition, digital fisheries, and sustainable fisheries initiatives. The conference includes three special forums to advance technological sharing in smart fisheries.