Socioeconomic aspects of cage aquaculture in Taiwan
2000
Liao, D.S. (National Taiwan Ocean Univ., 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202 (Taiwan). Inst. of Fisheries Economics)
Sustainable development of marine finfish cage aquaculture calls for comprehensive planning. Investments in offshore cage aquaculture must take into account socioeconomic, environmental and biotechnological considerations. This paper deals with the socioeconomic aspects of cage aquaculture in Taiwan. The socioeconomic problems facing farmers are high production costs, marketing factors, externality, user conflicts, and lack of infrastructures. Feed is the most important cost item. Cost structure varies with technology, species and size. The fish farmers need to increase farm size (cages) to reduce production costs. The production of large size fish, which is specially for sashimi product, should target both the domestic and the Japanese markets. Despite the fact that cage aquaculture is a promising opportunity for expansion, it poses a high risk. Some well engineered cages have also been lost to storm conditions. Cages have also been vulnerable to poaching and vandalism. Marine fish farming can have significant environmental impacts and cause deterioration of coastal water quality. Therefore, some environmental and supporting regulations on cage aquaculture are needed to prevent marine pollution and to provide adequate safeguards to private investments
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]