Few but Valuable Malabar Groupers

↑Rock Fish in Cage

↑Large-sized Malabar Grouper

↑Large-sized Malabar Grouper

↑High Domestic and Oversea Demands for Rock Fish

Rock fish dishes have great taste and are very popular for households and banquets. The most common fanned groupers are orange_spotted ones. The 12-18 kg Malabar groupers contain rich collagen and is called the king of groupers.

In general, the size of groupers sold in domestic markers are about 0.6-1.2 kg and 2.4-3.5 kg for exporting market. Malabar groupers with the average weight of 12-18 kg are few but valuable products at the price ofNT$200-300 per kilo. Restaurants, banquet halls, and hot pot places in Taiwan and gourmet paradise, Hong Kong, all have high demands for Malabar groupers. Some fish farms in Yongan raise Malabar groupers.

Milk Fish Farming
Although Yongan is known for rock fish farming, it has diversified fish farming in variety. In terms of farming area of scale, milk fish farming is ranked as the first and then come to rock fish farming and perch. The diversified fish farming also include white shrimps, cichlid fish, Trachinotus blochii, and the few in quantity, but valuable Malabar groupers.

Fish farming history of Yongan can be traced back to Japanese ruling over Taiwan. The residents living in Yongan by the sea make their living on offshore net fishing due to the washing away of Agongdian River and wetland formation. The season of mullet fish always brings giant profits to fishermen. Yongan area on Southwest Coast introduced shallow water farming of milk fish during Japanese ruling over Taiwan, marking the beginning of fish farming here. In addition to the supply to domestic markets in Taiwan, adult fish weighted over one kilo is exported in frozen to Middle East and the US.

The change of farming of milk fish and rock fish has promoted the quantity growth. Production had been limited by shallow water farming; after the change in 1976, the fanning area of scale increased by five to six times, so do the quantities.

Fish farming is mostly concentrated between Singda Harbor and Agongdian River with the total area of scale of 1,250 hectares. The operation of fish farming industry here is handed down generation after generation; therefore, farm keepers accumulated experiences and created impressive production value for Taiwan's fish farming industry.

Milk fish is raised artificially in pure sea- water area and it has great taste, being very popular in the market.

Golden Age ofAquaculture Farming in Yongan ~ Taiwan, the Kingdom of Shrimps
Most fishermen in Yongan still remember the golden age of aquaculture farming of shrimps from 1985 to 1989, the peak period, when many area introduced shrimps for farming. A lot of shrimp farmers made a profit. Some even recalled in smiles that during that time every morning, shrimp merchants came to Yongan and bought shrimps in cash. Sometimes, the amount totaled million of dollars that they had never dreamed of before. The security was not an issue by that time. Although shrimp farming has brought a fortune to Yongan and the domestic and oversea demands remained high, yet due to the virus infection in 1988, the yield rate decreased dramati- cally and a high percentage of fishermen chose to farm other species of fish. The Kingdom of Shrimp, thus, became a history.