A new breed of Japanese silver croakers can live in lower temperatures and survive for up to 15 hours on delivery runs, the Council of Agriculture’s Fisheries Research Institute said on Saturday.
The fish can live in temperatures from 8°C to 34°C, while they grow quickly and efficiently convert feed into market products, the institute said.
With a delicate taste, its meat fetches prices of NT$400 to NT$500 per kilogram, while gelatin made from its swim bladder sells at NT$180 to NT$225 per gram, making farming the breed a lucrative industry, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Fisheries Research Institute
The institute began cultivating the strain in 2011, but it did not put much effort into promotion until the fish was found to have survived temperatures as low as 7°C in 2016, it said.
After that, the institute began working with private aquaculture dealers to collect wild croakers to cultivate more fry, the institute said.
Three years later, mass production at fish farms is possible, and harvests collect hundreds of thousands of fry, it said.
Researchers have also overcome delivery obstacles, as the fry can survive 12 to 15 hours of travel time, making it possible to send them to Penghu County, the institute said.
With production expanding, people will be able to purchase the fish at more reasonable prices, which will make the gelatin an even more attractive business proposition, it said.
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