TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Damage from Typhoon Danas has worsened long-standing structural problems in Taiwan’s milkfish industry, pushing prices to their highest level in a decade.
The typhoon devastated coastal areas, and prolonged power outages caused heavy losses for milkfish farmers, per PTS. Fishmonger Lin Mao-sheng (林茂生) said wholesale prices rose by roughly 10% after the storm.
Liu Kai-chen (劉鎧郴), a veteran of the milkfish trade, said extreme price swings over the past two years have discouraged farmers from stocking ponds. He added that poor-quality milkfish fry imported from Indonesia also contributed to this year’s low yields.
Taiwan’s milkfish cultivation peaked in 2016, but acreage has steadily declined — falling by about 30% over the past decade, per News&Market. A major factor is the government-backed Fishery and Electricity Symbiosis (漁電共生) initiative, which allows solar development on aquaculture land.
The program now occupies nearly half of Taiwan’s fish-farming areas, per News&Market. However, government data show around 70% of completed projects do not actually raise fish, the outlet reported.
Critics say incentives are misaligned: developers profit from investment funds, bank loans, and construction subsidies, while aquaculture — the initiative’s intended core — is often neglected in favor of stable solar revenue.
Kuo Chun-chen (郭准蓁), a member of a milkfish production and marketing group, said her father-in-law, a 40-year industry veteran, has seen shipments drop by about one-third. She cited the symbiosis initiative as a key driver of the decline.
However, Agriculture Development Association CEO Hou Yen-lung (侯彥隆) pointed to rising feed costs as the most significant burden on farmers.
Milkfish has long been a go-to species for older fishers because of its relatively low maintenance. Hsiao Wen-tung (蕭文通), a fisher in Tainan’s Annan District, said milkfish alone is not highly profitable, but raising them alongside shrimp can help trim costs and stabilize income.
Veteran fisher Huang Kuo-chi (黃國基) emphasized milkfish’s central role in Taiwan’s aquaculture economy, calling it an industry cornerstone. National Chiayi University professor Chin Tsung-hsien (秦宗顯) warned that global competition could further threaten Taiwan’s position.
He noted that while Indonesia — the world’s largest milkfish producer — focuses on smaller fish for domestic consumption, foreign investors could scale up large milkfish production for export, potentially undercutting Taiwan.
At Taipei’s Binjiang Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market, fishmonger Lee (李) said many farmed species are now scarce and more expensive, reflecting the sector’s decline, per News&Market. At the Shilin Public Market, milkfish specialist Tung (董) recalled that a box of milkfish sold for NT$2,200 (US$71) eight years ago.
“During COVID, we could sell 80 milkfish a day,” Tung said. “Now, it’s hard to sell even 40.”
