History, present status and prospects of prawn culture in Taiwan

Abstract

Penaeus monodon culture is well established in Taiwan. Its success has been achieved mainly in the last 20 years. Although there has been a long traditional history of aquaculture in Taiwan, the recent developments in culture techniques have increased both its production and popularity. Other species such as P.japonicus, P. penicillatus, P. semisulcatus, and Metapenaeus ensis have also been researched and propagated. Some culture problems still exist but on the whole prawn culture is among the newly developed industries with astonishing progress with a good future in Taiwan even during an era of bottleneck of general agriculture. A brief history and the present culture status, related problems, and potential prospects of prawn culture in Taiwan are outlined and summarised.