August 4, 2010

 

Taiwanese grouper sector set to boom

 

 

Many grouper farmers in Taiwan are rebuilding their ponds ravaged by last August's Typhoon Morakot hoping they can partake in the prospects of a Chinese market worth up to US$3.1 billion a year.

 

The opportunity comes after the fish got listed as one of the country's farm items to be given zero tariff treatment in the cross-Taiwan Strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) signed on June 29.

 

President Ma Ying-jeou said the country is set to become the world's main grouper producer as a result of possessing the key factors of breeding expertise, appropriate climate and proximity to China, according to reports.

 

Taiwan produces 18,000 tonnes of various species of grouper worth US$110 million per annum. 90% of the total is exported to Hong Kong and the Chinese coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, according to the Pingtung Aquaculture Association chairman Huang Tsai-tuan.

 

ECFA will help Taiwan enter the market in some Chinese regions, Huang said.

 

Nine out of some 200 grouper species can now be successfully farmed, with Taiwan having expertise for the controls and development of eight of them. Taiwan's climate allows for year-round grouper farming, Huang commented.

 

However, farmers and Huang said indovirus and nervous necrosis virus continue to plague stocks, noting that there is no way of controlling viral infection but to seek help from relevant government agencies.

 

Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung said the council's Fisheries Administration has separated TW$10.43 million (US$325,917) to endorse vaccine development, and National Taiwan Ocean University has been given TW$10.5 million (US$328,104) to research the viruses.

 

Last year's Typhoon Morakot saw 90% of grouper farms washed away or clogged with silt, leaving countless grouper farmers out of business. To cope with the destruction of their farms, some farmers raised funds to continue farming grouper, some began farming tilapia or other cheaper species and others exited the market altogether when banks refused them loans.