According to Taipei Times, the release, organized by the Penghu County Government and Keelung’s National Ocean University marks the beginning of the county’s efforts to shift from open ocean fishing to coastal fishing and eventually to fish farming, Penghu County Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau Director Cheng Ming-yuan said.
“Earlier this year Penghu suffered from an ocean freeze that killed massive amounts of fish. With shallow sections of the coastal sea, this is bound to happen in low temperatures, but with well-managed fish farms the damage can be better controlled,” Cheng told Taipei Times.
He said the world’s fisheries must turn to aquaculture because “fishing methods are becoming more and more advanced, so fish stocks are plummeting everywhere ... Seafood proteins are bound to come from fish farms in the future.”
Penghu plans to train fishermen in aquaculture and encourage youths who have left Penghu to return and join the fish farming industry, the official said.
Fish Release Marks Future in Aquaculture
TAIWAN - Thousands of newly hatched fish, or fry, were released off Penghu on Friday in hopes of restoring the coastal ecosystem and boosting fish stocks for local fishermen as the county pursues sustainable fishing.