The prawn culture industry in Taiwan and relevant considerations for the development of the industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In：S.A. AI-Thobaiti, H.M. AI-Hinty, A.Q. Siddiqui and G. Hussain (eds.)

Abstract

Prawn culture in Taiwan has hundreds of years of history. The commercial production of prawn, however, began only a quarter of century ago, with the establishment of larval rearing techniques for the grass prawn (Penaeus monodon). The three centuries of experience accumulated by Taiwan, particularly in the last two decades, has transformed its prawn culture industry into one of the most advanced in the world. This success has been attributed to several factors, including a favorable geography and climate, wide choice of suitable prawn culture species; availability of hatchery-bred postlarvae; availability of formulated feeds; traditional, diligent and innovative farmers; well organized network of related sub-businesses or industries; support from the scientific community and the government; access to general infractructure; and proximity to interantional markets, such as Japan. Record production for grass prawn alone was achieved in 1987 with 95,000 tons. More than 80% of this was exported, generating foreign exchange equivalent to U.S$472 million. In 1988, however, an unexpected mass mortality struck the industry, pushing down production volume of grass prawn by 70%. In dealing with the crisis, the industry has recognized, among others, the importance of diversifying the choice of culture species. The search for altenantive species was actually started even years before the crisis, but this has been accelerated because of the crisis. Considerable -success has been achieved from this effort, as some of these species are now commercially cultured. This paper discusses the Taiwanese experience in prawn culture, underscoring those factors that have some practical application or relevance to the further development of the prawn culture industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.