Taiwan has achieved a world first in aquaculture by rearing artificially fertilized narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, the Fisheries Research Institute said.
The institute has been raising artificially inseminated fish for 600 days, with some weighing up to 7kg and measuring up to 80cm in length, it said in a news release.
In April and May 2023, the institute made a breakthrough in the artificial fertilization of mackerel larvae using onboard artificial insemination off Penghu County.
Photo courtesy of the Fisheries Research Institute
The experiment was the world’s first successful land-based larviculture of the species, it said.
The first batch of fry were raised in land-based tanks for about 50 days after hatching, setting a world record, although they subsequently suffered from a high mortality rate due to the species’ aggressive nature, collisions with tank walls and jumping out of the tanks.
The institute on Wednesday said that researchers had optimized survival conditions and have cultivated the fish for more than 600 days.
The fish samples also had testes and ovaries, demonstrating the potential for transporting them to land-based ponds for further breeding in captivity, it added.
The research puts the goal of land-based, full-cycle artificial breeding of the species for farming purposes well within reach, it said.
The research has been published in the journal Aquaculture International, showcasing Taiwan’s advances in aquaculture technology, it said.
Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, or Scomberomorus commerson, is a popular food item in Taiwan and a highly valuable fishery resource.
Prices soar over the Lunar New Year holiday, when one fish could sell for more than NT$10,000, the report said.
The research aimed to provide an alternative to wild-caught mackerel, as catches have been declining in the past few years, with the total catch dropping from 6,600 tonnes in 2002 to just 522 tonnes in 2023, it said.
The species’ scarcity is due to changes in the maritime environment, high demand and overfishing, it added.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the species as “near threatened” in 2023.
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