Thousands of newly hatched fish, or fry, were released off Penghu on Friday in hopes of restoring the coastal ecosystem and boosting fish stocks for local fishermen as the county pursues sustainable fishing.
The release, organized by the Penghu County Government and Keelung’s National Ocean University marks the beginning of the county’s efforts to shift from open ocean fishing to coastal fishing and eventually to fish farming, Penghu County Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau Director Cheng Ming-yuan (鄭明源) said.
“Earlier this year Penghu suffered from an ocean freeze that killed massive amounts of fish. With shallow sections of the coastal sea, this is bound to happen in low temperatures, but with well-managed fish farms the damage can be better controlled,” Cheng said.
He said the world’s fisheries must turn to aquaculture because “fishing methods are becoming more and more advanced, so fish stocks are plummeting everywhere ... Seafood proteins are bound to come from fish farms in the future.”
Penghu plans to train fishermen in aquaculture and encourage youths who have left Penghu to return and join the fish farming industry, the official said.
“During the release of fish fry, 11 National Ocean University students were among those who participated ... The county encourages such participation and is trying to work with a number of universities to recruit talent,” he said.
The county has also helped dozens of fishermen broaden their skills to pursue other sources of income, such as opening bed and breakfasts.
Penghu hopes to draw more tourists by developing some fishing villages into leisure and tourist spots, Cheng said.
Tourists “can experience the charm of living by the sea and see how local fishermen make their living,” he said.
“The fish in the ocean will one day be gone if we continue to take out large amounts. If we instead teach our tourists how to fish, let them bring in their catch and teach our guests how to cook them, the economical value of a catch increases, while the amount of catches will decrease,” Cheng said.
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