Taiwan grouper farmers, if they survived Typhoon Morakot at all, have been struggling to keep their heads above water as they strive to recover lucrative markets.
Raising groupers, also known as rock fish, in seawater aquaculture ponds in Pingtung, particularly Linbian (林邊) and Jiadong (佳冬) townships, had been a cash cow for Taiwan’s aquaculture industry, with exports topping US$40 million in 2008, a figure that had jumped 48-fold in the previous three years.
The fisheries were nearly drowned by Typhoon Morakot, with 90 percent of grouper farms washed away or choked by silt.
“Only about 10 percent of the original grouper farms remain,” said Chen Chung-min (陳忠敏), chief secretary of the Linbian Farmers Association.
It takes at least two years for fish farmers to replenish their aquaculture stocks and resume export delivery, Chen said.
During this time, the fish farmers need money to survive.
As grouper culture is a “high risk, high investment return” business, the farmers need to raise at least NT$15 million (US$454,545) to start a pond, he said.
“Some farmers have lost more than NT$50 million because of Typhoon Morakot,” he said.
After the typhoon, some managed to raise enough money to resume grouper farming, while some shifted their operations to cheaper fish such as tilapia, and many were forced out of the market altogether after failing to secure loans from banks, Chen said.
Live grouper exports are a top money earner, and Pingtung, Kaohsiung and Taitung counties are ideal locations because of their tropical climate, said Hu Hsing-hua (胡興華), vice chairman of the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture.
In recent years, traders have marketed high-priced Taiwanese grouper to Hong Kong, where they are highly prized.
The fish are also sought after by expensive restaurants in China’s Shanghai and Guangzhou, Hu said.
Nevertheless, declining yields in the wake of the typhoon have caused exports to shrink abruptly, which has created a business niche for competitors in China and Malaysia.
“The only way to prevent these competitors from stealing Taiwan’s export markets is to resume production quickly,” Hu said.
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