Caulerpa lentillifera
Ke says that it took teamwork to build the coral garden, noting that they relied heavily on the local diving industry’s help to install the modules and keep the budding corals free of mud and algae. But Ke feels that his greatest achievement as a civil servant has been his cultivation of seaweeds, not his work with coral.
When Ke was tasked with cultivating commercially valuable seaweeds such as Pyropia and Caulerpa lentillifera, he used to go into work at six o’clock every morning to check on their growth.
Seaweeds proved to be challenging to grow, and Ke turned to Hisao Ogawa, a Japanese visiting professor at National Taiwan Ocean University, and the faculty of National Penghu University of Science and Technology, for help. Though all were very generous with their knowledge, Ke remained stalled for more than a year. “For reasons I don’t remember, I ended up buying a really long air hose. When I put it in the cultivation barrel, the Caulerpa lentillifera started to grow.” Chuckling, Ke explains, “The hose created a strong current, which was just what this seaweed needed.” The current enabled the Caulerpa lentillifera to grow to a length of ten centimeters and produce dense clusters of sparkling “sea grapes.”
Ke subsequently transferred his technology to cultivators free of charge, enabling them to grow the seaweed year round instead of only in summer. They now produce steady yields of “sea grapes” that they can sell for as much as NT$2500 per kilogram. “You can enjoy them right here on Penghu. No need to go to Okinawa.”
Ke patented his “strong current” technique, and then extended it to a “seaweed cultivation apparatus” for growing Eucheuma serra, a commercially valuable red seaweed. Basically a barrel with a windmill-like device mounted on the bottom, the apparatus generates a strong and steady current. By keeping the seaweed moving and making it difficult for unwanted algae to establish themselves, the system enables the Eucheuma serra to double in size in a month.
Whereas fishermen along Taiwan’s northeast coast harvest wild Eucheuma serra from March through May, aquaculturist Chen Dinggui now produces steady yields of the seaweed year round at his Baiwankang Recreational Fish Farm using technology that Ke provided free of charge.
“I want to do things that benefit Penghu,” explains Ke Chih Hung. It’s a great place to visit, and he hopes that once the pandemic is over, everyone will come and check it out!
Wu Family Restaurant developed these new seaweed-forward dishes at the request of the Penghu County Agricultural and Fisheries Bureau.
Located near Hangwan in Magong’s Suogang Borough, Taiwan’s first manmade coral garden is attracting many ecotourists.
The Penghu County Agricultural and Fisheries Bureau’s successful restoration of this reef ecosystem has provided these tropical fish with a home.