Fisheries Agency,Ministry of Agriculture

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.