The Taiwan Tilapia Alliance (台灣鯛協會) yesterday said it will take action to correct misrepresentations made by a South Korean TV show that portrayed a negative image of Taiwan’s tilapia fish-farming conditions.
On Oct. 25 the program showed footage of dead fish and empty boxes of antibiotics filmed at a farm near the Formosa Plastics naphtha cracker plant in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮).
The show also said the fish was unworthy of its name, since it was raised in freshwater, not saltwater.
Alliance chairperson Tsai Chun-hsiung (蔡俊雄) said it will visit the Korean Mission in Taipei with government officials, invite Korean media and fish importers to visit Taiwan and also make a formal request to the show to correct the inaccurate reporting.
Tsai said the Seafood Watch — a program by the Monterey Bay Aquarium that helps consumers and businesses choose seafood for a healthy ocean — has rated Taiwan tilapia as “good alternatives,” and 11 Taiwan tilapia farms have been certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, proving the good quality of tilapia raised in Taiwan.
However, after the show was aired, many Koreans are now afraid to eat the fish from Taiwan and fish importers want to refunds, he said, adding that he is afraid the inaccurate image will have a big negative impact.
The Fisheries Agency Director General James Sha (沙志一) said total output of Taiwan tilapia is more than 70,000 tonnes each year, about 60 percent of which is exported to countries including the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
Taiwan tilapia is exported to South Korea as mainly frozen, he said, adding that the quantity exported between January and September amounted to 4,122 tonnes, accounting for about 13 percent of total exports and 8 percent of total output.
South Korea is too cold to raise tilapia, so the price of imported tilapia from Taiwan has been higher, Sha said, adding that although other southeast Asian countries have expressed interest in working with Taiwanese fish breeders to get a share of the market, they were not able to gain quality certification — which proves the quality of the tilapia raised in Taiwan.
He said the government makes regular, non-scheduled inspections every year, along with Korean customs and health management departments, with the return rate of exports to South Korea about 10 percent, meaning the image depicted by the television show is biased.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS