Marine cage culture of cobia in Taiwan

Abstract

Marine cage culture was introduced to Taiwan in the 1970s. It started to grow into a modern industry since 1993 when the exclusive fishery zone was assigned by the government for marine cage culture. However, its development was not smooth and easy due to lack of appropriate culture species, until the success of breeding technique for cobia in 1993. Cobia is the most popular species for off-shore cage culture, and its annual production continuously increased since 1999 reaching the highest production of 400 mt in 2004, Several unfavorable factors affected the cobia industry, with typhoon and diseases topping the list- Key success factor, on the other hand, include consumer acceptance and good share in the domestic market. At present, the biggest challenge for Taiwan marine cage farming industry is the improvement and proper implementation of cage farming related laws for better regulation and protection of the industry. Taiwan can also develop some core competence on important aspects of the cobia industry as a whole, in order to play a key role in the global cobia farming industry.