Technological and economic adaptations in aquaculture development in Taiwan

In Taiwan, the history of aquaculture spans over three hundred years and the breakthroughs in the artificial propagation of finfish and shrimp effectively reduced the industries' reliance on wild fry, thereby stabilizing commercial operations and overcoming the barriers for expansion. Taiwan is located very close to Japan, one of the biggest seafood importers in the world, which has also benefited the development of aquaculture. However, the growing problems of water pollution and the increasingly high environmental costs generated by aquaculture ventures have made Taiwan experience a declining trend in recent years. To overcome those constraints, three main areas are described, which then form the basis of this study. (1). Adjustment of existing production practices - Milkfish culture, one of the most vulnerable sectors suffering from price fluctuation is used as an example to understand both the production cost, market attributes and the ways in which impacts of variations between production and price can be reduced. (2). Improving existing systems - One of the methods to reduce the use of underground water is to use super intensive culture in which high densities are stable and water use minimised, and has been tried in Taiwan for eels. However, the cost and benefits must be evaluated and as most eel products are exported to the Japanese market, it is very important to examine the comparative advantages against other countries. (3). Develop new systems- One of the solutions to the constraints of land-based aquaculture in Taiwan is to develop seawater-based cage culture. This has been developed in a limited degree in Ping-Tong and Pen-Hu counties but the feasibility and profitability have not been investigated. Based on 274 milkfish farms, 63 traditional eel farms, 5 intensive eel farms, 22 cage culture farms and 133 consumers from different zones, constituted the primary data, which combined with other secondary data constructed this investigation. The milkfish sector was not economically sound. Farm size in the categories of 4-