The striking thing about Tai-wan's aquaculture industry is its diversity, as the sector produces plants and animals that appear on dinner tables and in health food products as well as aquariums. It also attracts tourists with activities like catching clams and meals at restaurants where the catch of the day is the freshest available anywhere.
Aquaculture businesses in are succeeding by finding creative ways to add value to their products. A prime example of this is Li Chuan Fishery in . While 1 kilogram of fresh clams sells for about NT$60 (US$1.82), Li Chuan is able to sell the essence extracted from the same amount of clams for more than NT$150 (US$4.55). At Sing Chang Koi Farm in Yunlin County, managers have found that by adhering to strict quality control measures, the business can target the export market, where a fish that sells for only NT$40 (US$1.21) in Taiwan can fetch up to US$60. And for an extreme example of added value, one need look no further than Sheng Yang Farm in , which cultivates species of common waterweeds for sale to aquarium shops. Mainstream fish farms are also pushing their products up the value chain, in part as a result of 's increased prosperity. Whereas consumers preferred less expensive freshwater fish in the past, today there is a growing appetite for saltwater species, which sell for up to twice as much.
The government has helped the industry develop and sell upscale products by creating regulatory mechanisms, providing loans and subsidies, conducting research and removing trade impediments. With direct cross-strait transportation links opening up and shipping times shrinking, for example, the Council of Agriculture (COA) expects the value of grouper exported to mainland to grow to at least NT$3 billion (US$90 million) annually.
However, while aquaculture operators are finding ways to add value to their products, they are also increasingly realizing the need to protect the environment. The biggest impact associated with aquaculture is land subsidence caused by excessive pumping of groundwater. 's poster child for subsidence is in , where a cluster of shrimp farms is thought to be the cause of the ground sinking by more than 3 meters since 1972. Subsidence is such a pernicious problem because it leads to flooding and seawater encroachment, which affect area residents and eventually return to haunt the aquaculture operators themselves. The Water Resources Agency and the COA launched a project to fight subsidence in 1995. This effort has helped, but around 820 square kilometers of land in is still sinking today.
An alternative to pumping groundwater to fill fishponds is switching to saltwater aquaculture. To this end, the COA has already built three seawater pumping stations. But why use ponds on 's expensive, limited amount of land at all when the ocean is so close at hand? If people prefer eating saltwater fish, why not raise them in cages in their own environment? This method of fish farming has actually already been practiced since the 1970s off 's archipelago. More research is needed as cage mariculture entails additional costs and its own set of environmental problems, but it may provide the best way forward.
No matter which form of aquaculture dominates in the future, today's operators are becoming aware that they need to protect the environment because it directly affects their businesses. As Li Chuan owner Tsai Chih-fong says of the East Rift Valley's pure water, "It's this 'five-star' aquaculture environment that has enabled my business to thrive. That's why I'm dedicated to promoting eco-friendly aquaculture and ecotourism to maintain the health of these natural resources."