A Taiwan saying has it that "sometimes the stars are bright [bad times], sometimes the moon is bright [good times]." For Taiwan's seafood cultivation industry, it seems that everywhere the stars are lit up.
In the past, Taiwan's seafood cultivation growth was highly praised. Not only did it earn considerable foreign exchange, at the same time it also spread fish cultivation technology, winning unanimous applause.
Take for example the leading products of shrimp and eels. Together, they broke the US$400 million mark in overseas sales. Many Taiwan entrepreneurs even went to Central American countries to raise shrimp, with startling profits. "When things were good, you could earn NT$1 million per hectare of shrimp pools in a single season," says Chen Yu-kun, the director of the fishing association of the Fangliao area in Pingtung county. The temperature in the south is high, and there are at least two seasons.
With high profits, more and more people naturally entered the business. According to County Department of Agriculture and Forestry statistics, in 1983 there were no more than 3,000 hectares of shrimp pools. By 1987, the figure had reached 20,000 hectares.
But things started to go downhill three years ago.
"You couldn't even recover your investment over the past two or three years. Many cultivators could not repay the loans that had been taken out from the fishing association," says Chen. In the heyday period, land rented for NT$40-50,000 per unit per month. Now it's four or five thousand, and still nobody comes to ask about it.
"As to what caused large scale deaths of shrimp, up to today there is still no conclusion," says Ting Yun-yuan, director of the Tainan branch of the Taiwan Fisheries Research Institute. It could be that the shrimp had bacteria, that the water was polluted, or that they were raised in excessive density.
With shrimp no longer economically profitable, production fell from 95,000 tons in 1987 to 35,000 tons in 1988 to 20,000 tons in 1989. Don't even talk about exports--there wasn't even enough for the domestic market.
Thus, "the enemy from within" did in shrimp exports. But the collapse of the overseas eel market is due to "external disaster." The "disaster" is competition from Southeast Asia and mainland China. All have advantages over Taiwan in land, water resources, and labor. After strengthening technology, they are not inferior to Taiwan. The only problem is that these areas are "contagion areas," and importing countries might have reservations on import volume.
But on the other hand, Japanese prefer Taiwan eel, and the price for them is 30-40% higher than for Southeast Asian or mainland eel. Some enterprising Taiwanese have even bought mainland eel, packaged them in Taiwan, and cashed in the price differential.
With the downturn in shrimp and eel, though the economic losses were bad news for cultivators, for layers of the earth below the surface, it was the chance for a new life.
Climate and water resources, besides technology, are the keys to cultivation. "Unfortunately, water resources had already been distributed, and water for seafood cultivation had never been considered," says Hu Sing-hwa of the Taiwan Fisheries Bureau.
What was to be done? Cultivators dug wells, or even broke down tidal barriers or dikes. This led to salination of the earth and problems for layers of the earth below the surface as well as for flood prevention.
"The government solution is to promote pure seawater cultivation and to map out specialized areas for raising seafood cultivation," says Taiwan Governor Chiu Chuang-huan, outlining future directions in the industry.
Two years ago, the Ilan County government established a specialized cultivation area in Toucheng. Each entrepreneur only had to pay a fixed NT$80,000 fee per hectare, bringing in NT$10 million. The other NT$90 million was provided by the government. This reduced the investment risk. Because of poor quality in the engineering work, there is still some distance from early estimates, but the step was an embryonic model for specialized areas.
Hu Sing-hwa says that the specialized areas also can help regulate the market. With comprehensive management, the quality of cultivation can be stabilized, and the amount produced, the type, and the timing can be coordinated, so that there is not a collapse of prices from overproduction. This way, the income of cultivators can be guaranteed.
Governor Chiu notes that the side-effects of cultivation have been around for some time. Though banning unlicensed areas and blocking the taking of underground water have been continual, "it only treated the symptoms, not the cause." By mapping out specialized areas and providing a healthy cultivation environment, people will have no excuse whatsoever to resist strict enforcement of the law.
Encouraging the use of pure seawater has also been undertaken. The salinity of seawater is about 35 parts per 1,000. The salinity appropriate for cultivating shrimp is 20-30 parts per thousand. "In the past, raising shrimp was half seawater, half fresh water. But to reduce taking of underground water, this has been changed to 80/20." But with the proportion of seawater increased, the time for maturation nearly doubles, says Chen Yu-kun.
So many households "conveniently forgot," and lowered the proportion of seawater. "In fact, the lower the salinity, the less resistance shrimp have when they molt, so the death rate goes up, lowering density; with lower density, naturally the pace of growth goes up," says Ting Yun-yuan.
But how can cultivators be brought around?
It's not that they don't understand the harmful effects, but the loss of profit is hard to balance off, points out Governor Chiu. Taking this into account, the government is now promoting raising of high-profit seawater fish, such as the spotted grouper.
As Hu Sing-hwa says, anything done out of control will not be good. He looks for development amid stability in the future, and not movement in "swarms," or "take the money and run." Otherwise, even if profits can be take from any particular product, it doesn't mean the industry as a whole can recover its former prosperity.
[Picture Caption]
The cultivation pools, too broad to be taken in with a single glance, speak of more prosperous times in the fish cultivation industry.
Taiwan Governor Chiu Chuang-huan indicates that mapping out specialized seafood breeding areas is done to solve the problems of land salination which are a key obstacle to breeders.
The photo at left shows cultivators using a rippled board to raise small abalone. Pargo, small abalone, and grouper are all products of high economic value.
The China tuihsia (a shrimp variety), about to have its coming out, has the potential to replace the tsaohsia variety.
Cultivators lay piping to draw sea water; the twists and turns present an impressive sight.
When will fish cultivation, stuck under the "starlight," be able to bask in the "moonlight"?
Taiwan Governor Chiu Chuang-huan indicates that mapping out specialized seafood breeding areas is done to solve the problems of land salination which are a key obstacle to breeders.
The photo at left shows cultivators using a rippled board to raise small abalone. Pargo, small abalone, and grouper are all products of high economic value.
The China tuihsia （a shrimp variety）, about to have its coming out, has the potential to replace the tsaohsia variety.
Cultivators lay piping to draw sea water; the twists and turns present an impressive sight.
When will fish cultivation, stuck under the "starlight," be able to bask in the "moonlight"?
