Over 90 percent of Taiwan’s aquaculture operations, which were battered by Typhoon Morakot in August last year, have resumed one year after the killer typhoon struck, the Fisheries Agency said yesterday.
As of the end of last month, more than NT$590 million (US$18.44 million) in government subsidies had been disbursed to 7,819 aqua farmers working on 10,251 hectares of fish ponds and 290 hectares of oyster farms, the agency said.
A budget of NT$590 million was allocated for 45 infrastructure projects related to the aquaculture industry, the agency said, adding that the projects included sewers and sea water supply systems.
With the reconstruction efforts, the aquaculture industry in Kaohsiung County and Tainan County, which were less heavily affected by the typhoon, has gradually returned to normal and seafood is being delivered to the market again from those areas, the agency said.
Over 80 percent of the aquaculture business in Pingtung County, the area that was hardest hit by the typhoon, has also resumed, the agency said.
Government assistance to the affected fishery operators is expected to conclude at the end of this year, said the agency, which operates under the Council of Agriculture.
The agency made the statement in response to criticism of the government’s efforts.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
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