Taiwan - Smart aquaculture fisheries management: Establishment of a grouper model farm

Issues and Objectives

Grouper is a large, temperate marine fish with tender, flavorful flesh and a moderate amount of oil, making it a top-tier ingredient for sashimi and seafood hot pot, commanding a high price. It inhabits rocky and muddy waters, primarily distributed along the coasts of Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In recent years, overfishing has led to a significant decline in its production. Furthermore, the aquaculture process is fraught with challenges, including susceptibility to deadly diseases and sudden mortality due to low temperatures, causing considerable headaches for Taiwanese aquaculture farmers. Therefore, the Fisheries Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, has been investing in a grouper farm construction project since 2010, aiming to diversify the types of farmed grouper and increase yields, reduce the impact of environmental changes and diseases on the grouper aquaculture industry, and prevent severe losses for farmers.

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Improvement Measures Taken

In 2009, the Executive Yuan approved the "Grouper Production Value Doubling Plan," which included plans for various aspects such as systems, research and development, and marketing. At that time, Taiwan's grouper industry was booming, but disease problems also gradually became more serious with the development of the industry. In 2020, the Fisheries Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, invested in the technical establishment of grouper model farms. In order to solve the disease problem, the Fisheries Research Institute proposed to develop towards the direction of whole-farm export and began to conduct research.

Starting in 2014, the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, promoted the "Global Operations Plan for Agricultural Technology Industry" to guide various units in promoting agricultural industry innovation and responding to market changes in the face of drastic changes in the global market. Therefore, the Marine Aquaculture Research Center team of the Fisheries Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, was responsible for implementing the "Establishment of Grouper Aquaculture Model Farm Technology" project. It further focused on strengthening technologies such as constructing biosafety facilities, screening healthy broodstock, producing clean feed, producing white-bodied fry, and standardizing intermediate rearing processes to promote the industrialization of grouper model farms and achieve the goal of exporting the entire farm.

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Results

The research team has been monitoring the temperature of the model aquarium for several years and found that the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors can reach 4 to 6 degrees Celsius. During cold waves, the indoor temperature can be maintained at 16 to 18 degrees Celsius. During the 2016 Typhoon No. 1, the grouper in the model aquarium was completely unaffected. In view of the potential high temperature impact of the indoor aquarium, heat prevention is a key focus when constructing the model aquarium. Therefore, multiple sets of exhaust fans are installed in the indoor aquarium to assist in temperature regulation during the summer.

Currently, grouper farms are experimenting with automated and intelligent management. Monitoring instruments placed in the water can monitor the water conditions in the breeding ponds at any time, thereby reducing risks. In addition, underwater cameras are used to observe the grouper's feeding behavior, reducing unnecessary feed consumption. However, the continued introduction of intelligent management will increase the cost of aquaculture production, but it will bring benefits such as saving labor and stabilizing water quality. Therefore, the balance between intelligent and traditional management still needs to be tested and calculated in the future to find a balance between production and operation for aquaculture operators.

Glossary

Climate change risk assessment: Using effective assessment tools to understand the medium- and long-term impacts of climate change on various sectors, and to propose corresponding adaptation strategies and actions to reduce the risks brought about by climate change.

Case type:

Structural and physical options: engineering techniques or reinforcement of existing structures, integrated technology development

Social options: learning and exchanging disaster knowledge in the community, and developing and applying early warning information.

Institutional options: Establishing institutions at the economic, policy, and legal levels

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Reference Websites

行政院農委會水產試驗所。https://agritech-foresight.atri.org.tw/article/contents/1418。

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