Potential of marine cage aquaculture in Taiwan: cobia culture. In：I C. Liao and C.K. Lin (eds.)

Abstract

Currently, there are about 1,500 cages, ranging from 216 cu.m to 1884 cu.m, operated in the coastal waters off Penghu, Pingtung, Ilan, and Hsinchu Prefectures in Taiwan. Over 80% of these cages are devoted to Cobia culture. Cobia attains maturation at 9-10 kg and spawns spontaneously from March to October. Incubation takes 30 hours at 24-26 deg C. Larval rearing takes about 45 days for the fry to reach 8-10 cm. Nursing takes another 25-30 days to reach 30g. The fish are then transferred to marine cages for growout culture. They can reach 6-8 kg in cages in one year. About 1,500 mt of cobia was produced in Taiwan in 1999. Of which, over 450 mt of 6-8 kg whole fish was marketed to Japan at cage-side prices of 150-180 NT$/kg (US$5-6/kg). The preliminary success suggests that there is a great potential for marine cage aquaculture of cobia in Taiwan.