May 24, 2011

Taiwan experiences favourable outcome in yellowfin tuna breeding

Taiwan's Pingtung county government formally declared on May 20 that it has achieved significant development in initiating yellowfin tuna aquaculture on Xiaoliuqiu Island.

"Taiwan leads all countries in Asia in terms of experiments on the commercialisation of yellowfin tuna breeding," said Wu Long-jing, director of a marine resources center at the Fisheries Research Institute in charge of carrying out the testing in cooperation with the county government.

"Japan is the only country in the world to have perfected aquaculture technology for the breeding of bluefin tuna," Wu noted.

Some 200 yellowfin tuna with an average weight of around 4kg have been raised since testing began in November last year with the introduction of fry into fish farms set up for the experiment in the seas off the coral island, located some 15km west of Donggang Township in Pingtung, according to the county government.

The county's bluefin tuna festival has been successful in boosting tourism, but it has also led to criticism that it runs counter to conservation efforts.

"With success in breeding yellowfin tuna, protection work can proceed hand in hand with the fisheries industry," said Pingtung County Magistrate Tsao Chi-hung.