Typhoon Morakot leaves Taiwan aquaculture a huge loss

Typhoon Morakot not only swept away lives and homes in Taiwan, but also left a gapping hole in the pockets of aquaculture farmers there.

Taiwan's aquaculture industry's losses escalated to US$88.7 million as of Tuesday (Aug 11), constituting the largest loss caused by a typhoon over the past 18 years, according to the Council of Agriculture (COA).

A total of 5,832 hectares of fish farms were impacted by the storms, some of which were in the counties of Tainan, Pingtung and Kaohsiung, COA said.

In Jiadong and Linbian in Pingtung County, numerous grouper ponds were flooded and the costly fish were swept away, leaving behind rotting fish in the area once the water subsided. 

All fish farms in Jiadong and Linbian incurred losses of TWD20 million, according to estimates by local farmers.

Agricultural facilities in Taiwan suffered an estimated TWD168.32 million in damages, of which TWD144.6 million involved aquaculture facilities, according to COA.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) warned on Monday (Aug 10) that anyone artificially increasing farm product prices will be fined between TWD50,000 to TWD25 million.

Average vegetable wholesale prices have increased 56 percent from pre-typhoon levels. COA authorities are concerned that prices for pork, chicken, eggs, fish and other items will also increase within the next three weeks.

US$1 = TWD32.8885 (Aug 13)