The nation’s grouper industry has mostly recovered from the damage caused by Typhoon Morakot in August last year, with an average of 80 percent of grouper aquaculture farms having resumed operations, the Fisheries Agency said.
To help the industry recover, the government has approved NT$2.13 billion (US$67 million) in loans to grouper farmers, mainly in Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties in southern Taiwan.
The maximum amount of loans for grouper farms has been raised to NT$5 million from NT$1 million per hectare, with loans for farmers raising giant grouper increased to NT$8 million, the agency said.
Morakot devastated southern Taiwan’s agriculture and aquaculture sectors a year ago, causing more than NT$1.7 billion in damage to fisheries alone, nearly 60 percent of which was in Pingtung County. In the week after the typhoon, 1,515 tonnes of dead fish were removed from that county alone, the agency said.
The agency said it has spent NT$163 million helping grouper farmers clear the silt from their ponds, spread new soil, sanitize and improve water quality and purchase grouper fry and probiotics.
The government also plans to provide half of the funds needed to build three ships designed for transporting live fish, to a maximum of NT$45 million, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said it was continuing with efforts to promote a “fruit tree adoption” program it launched last year to help fruit farmers affected by Morakot.
The council’s Agriculture and Food Agency said the program had received a warm response from the public and helped fruit farmers re-establish their typhoon-devastated orchards and ride out the difficult period.
With more help still needed to get typhoon-affected farmers back on their feet, however, the COA is continuing to promote the adoption program.
According to the COA, the trees can be adopted by “unit,” and the cost of each unit this year has been adjusted downward to between NT$1,000 and NT$3,000 from last year’s NT$2,500 to NT$3,000, with the aim of encouraging more people to join the drive. The types of fruit trees offered for adoption are bell fruit, jujube, papaya, lychee, ai-wen mango, jin-huang mango and custard apple.
Under the program, a guaranteed amount of fruit per unit, weighing from 6kg to 18kg, will be delivered to adopters during the harvest season, according to the agency.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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