The Council of Agriculture (COA) said its Fisheries Research Institute has developed a way to raise pharaoh cuttlefish and bigfin reef squid in captivity — both commercially important species — in a bid to replenish fisheries resources and lower market prices.
Cephalopods, including squid and octopus, account for 14 percent of total fish catches worldwide, and that proportion is growing, institute Director-General Chen June-ru (陳君如) said, adding that Pharaoh cuttlefish and bigfin reef squid are the two most popular cephalopods among consumers, so the council determined to try and domesticate these two animals as part of its “blue economy” project.
Pharaoh cuttlefish and bigfin reef squid are high-value species and can be sold at more than NT$250 and NT$500 per kilogram respectively — five to 10 times the price of milkfish, which is often cultivated in Taiwan — and they can bear lower temperatures than milkfish, making them a more profitable option for fish farmers, Chen said.
“What we developed is the world’s first complete culture system for pharaoh cuttlefish and bigfin reef squids. Having a complete system means that we can grow pharaoh cuttlefish and bigfin reef squid in artificial environments without needing to harvest them in the sea; there probably will not be much fishing in the sea in the future,” Penghu Marine Biology Research Center researcher Huang Ting-shih (黃丁士) said.
It has become increasingly difficult for fishermen to catch pharaoh cuttlefish and bigfin reef squid due to overfishing and diminished habitats, with only about 1 percent of young cuttlefish and squid surviving in the wild, compared with 40 percent among those cultivated, Huang said.
“The most difficult part is taking care of infant cuttlefish and squid. They typically have to feed on live shrimps or fish until they are 20 days old, which is why cultivation was thought impractical and unprofitable. However, we have found a way to make 10-day-old cuttlefish and squid eat dead bait,” Huang said.
Cultivated pharaoh cuttlefish and bigfin reef squid might be available in two to three years at half the price of wild-caught specimens, he said, adding that the institute would teach fish farmers how to train baby cuttlefish and squids to eat commercial, non-live feed.
The institute also plans to release artificially grown cuttlefish and squid into the ocean to replenish the diminishing fisheries resources, with 15,000 cuttlefish and 2,000 squid to be released this year, Chen said.
OVERHAUL NEEDED: The government should improve its agricultural processing capabilities and expand to new markets to limit its reliance on China, an expert said China’s ban on Taiwanese pineapples was “unsurprising,” and Taiwan should have years ago altered its produce export strategies and target customers, experts said. China on Friday abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from Taiwan, saying that it had on multiple occasions discovered “harmful biological entities” on the fruit. Calling it an “unfriendly” move, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said that 99.79 percent of the pineapples sent to China since last year have met China’s import standards. Chiao Chun (焦鈞), the author of Fruits and Politics — A Recollection of Cross-strait Agricultural Interaction Over the Past Decade (水果政治學：兩岸農業交流十年回顧與展望), said that China’s announcement is clearly targeting
The Council of Agriculture yesterday signed a Taiwan-Australia Agricultural Cooperation Implementation clause to open a new export market for the nation’s pineapple crop. The clause is an addition to existing cooperation measures, it said. China on Friday last week abruptly announced that it would suspend pineapple imports from Taiwan starting on Monday, on grounds that it had on multiple occasions discovered “harmful organisms” in shipments of the fruit. The public and private sectors have since joined hands to purchase the local fruit to help the nation’s pineapple farmers. Canberra has requested that all pineapples for export to Australia have their crown buds removed,
DECADES OF INFLUENCE: Over the past 20 years, China has made inroads with Aborigines, funding political campaigns and trips, a legislator said Lawmakers have called on the National Security Bureau to investigate claims of pervasive Chinese influence among Aboriginal communities. Legislators pointed to a surge in communist propaganda and Chinese-funded projects over the past few years, which they say are aimed at infiltrating and buying political influence among Aboriginal communities. “China has for decades carried out wide-ranging ‘united front’ tactics and propaganda campaigns targeting Aborigines,” said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩), a member of the Puyuma community in Taitung County. “Now, they are influencing elections for local councilors and village chiefs, offering money for candidates to mount their campaigns, and to
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group might have lost its right to distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 and the ability to fulfill a contract in Taiwan, civic groups Taiwan Citizen Front and the Economic Democracy Union said yesterday. In a radio interview on Feb. 17, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the Central Epidemic Command Center, said that last year, Taiwan was close to signing a contract to buy doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but that the deal was halted at the last moment, with some speculating that Chinese interference was to blame. On Monday last week, the center
RSS