Fruitage of the Government’s Promotion of Grouper Industry
Groupers are fish
species of high economic value. They are important ingredients in banquets. In
the early days farming of groupers was not possible and wild caught fish was
the only source of supply. Following the growing demand resulting from the
economic boom in the Greater Chinese Zone, including Taiwan and mainland China,
and the diminishing catch in the coastal waters, wild caught groupers were insufficient
to satisfy the demand. In early 1970s fishermen in Penghu began culturing wild
fry. Following the develoment of the aquaculture technology, fishermen were
attracted to invest in the farming of groupers. However, due to high mortality
of wild fry, development of grouper farming was constrained. Through tireless
research by farmers and researchers, there was major breakthrough in the
artificial propagation of malabar grouper in the 1980s, and later artificial
propagation of other grouper species such as giant grouper was successful. In
the 1990s, grouper fry was not only sufficient to supply the domestic farms,
but also enough for exports.
The geographic location and climatic condition of Taiwan are
suitable for grouper farming. With excellent technology in the artificial
propagation of high-end grouper species, refinement in various stages of
farming, as well as close to consumer markets of Hong Kong and mainland China,
it was considered Taiwan possesses the superb competitiveness in the industry.
In 2009, the Executive Yuan approved the Plan of Doubling the Production Value
in Grouper Farming under the Program of Refined and Heathy Agriculture of
Excellence. Such development slogans as “development of key technology, for use
by farmers, to maintain No. 1 in the world”, “enchanced resilience of
disastrous area, pay high attention to conservation of national land and
creation of excellent environment” and “facilitation of transport channels,
strengthening of market access, and cultivation of the global markets” were
included in the policies and implementation measures. With the combined efforts
of the academic and industry, the Government placed the target of doubling the
production value of grouper industry to NT$7.6 billion.