Chiayi and Yunlin county tilapia farmers have been urged to reduce the number of fish reared to help improve prices, which have been hurt by increased competition from Southeast Asia.
The Chiayi and Yunlin county agricultural affairs departments called on farmers to decrease tilapia production in accordance with a national policy that hopes to bring down annual tilapia production to 50,000 tonnes.
The Council of Agriculture has already implemented a policy that would freeze excess tilapia to maintain market prices as early as February next year, the Yunlin County Government said said.
Tilapia exports last year saw a dip in pricing and fish farmers should not continue to rear excessive numbers of tilapia, it said.
Farmers should refrain from high-density fish farming to maintain stability of supply and bolster exports, Chiayi County Department of Agriculture official Chang Chien-cheng (張建成) said.
The central government has already scaled back the national goal for tilapia production from 70,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes, Chang said, adding that once tilapia production reaches 80 percent of the revised quota, the government would issue a warning to farmers.
Domestic demand for the fish is stable, meaning that controling excess numbers would enable farmers to maintain prices, Chang said, adding that larger and healthier fish come from ponds that are not over-stocked.
Despite their deals with farmers, wholesalers refuse to buy merchandise below the set price, meaning that fish farmers still have no guarantee that their product will be bought, Chiayi County Councilor Huang Chin-mao (黃金茂) said.
Exports are in the doldrums and chances of an upturn are minimal, Huang said, adding that the only choice is to reduce the quantity of fish being raised.
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