TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Fisheries Agency announced Wednesday that it would introduce new incentives to encourage the use of new facilities, including crew quarters and a fish market, at Cianjhen Fishing Port in Kaohsiung.
The NT$8.1 billion (US$254 million) Cianjhen Fishing Port upgrade project recently came under criticism following reports that the designs of the crew quarters and fish market did not adequately meet users’ needs, resulting in low utilization.
In response, the agency, in conjunction with Kaohsiung City Government’s Marine Bureau, will lower the nightly rate for a two-bedroom unit at the crew quarters hotel to NT$200 through subsidies, per ETtoday. It will also waive maintenance fees for fishmongers during the first two years of the market’s operation.
Kaohsiung Fishermen’s Association Executive Secretary Yang Meng-fan (楊孟凡) said fishers have welcomed the government’s measures, adding that the association will survey its members next week on whether they are willing to move into the new market, per UDN. He also called on the authorities to consider expanding the crew quarters to accommodate the large influx of foreign crew members expected to return to the port between June and July.
The association said the industry believes the port upgrade project will not only improve sanitation, but also provide crucial services that highlight the humanitarian aspects of Taiwan’s fishing industry.
DPP lawmaker and Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said the NT$8.1 billion project marks the first comprehensive hardware upgrade for the port in 50 years, including sewage improvements, channel dredging, and new facilities, per Tai Sounds. He called on the public to continue supporting further investment in the port, which serves as one of the major bases for Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry.
Meanwhile, the KMT continued to criticize the project. Lai’s KMT rival and Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said that when she toured the new fish market with Fisheries Agency officials in late 2025, she had already highlighted the need to provide incentives for fishmongers to move into the facility, per Liberty Times.
Ko said issues such as poor traffic flow would be difficult to address because the infrastructure has already been installed. However, she said subsidies or discounts on maintenance fees could encourage fishers to sell their products at the new market.
Ko noted the agency had failed to act on her recommendation and that the new fish market had missed its scheduled trial-run opening in June.
Ko stressed that Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry makes the investment worthwhile. Still, she argued that the public should expect an NT$8.1 billion project to be comprehensive and designed with users’ needs in mind.
KMT Kaohsiung City Council candidate Tang Ju-ting (湯茹婷) called on the relevant central and local government agencies to explain deficiencies in the port upgrade project, NOWNews. She said the National Audit Office had raised concerns about the project’s 2023 accounts in 2024, warning that a discrepancy between the assessed demand and actual need for the crew quarters hotel could result in a low occupancy rate.
Tang also called on Deputy Agriculture Minister Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), who previously defended the project in his capacity as Kaohsiung Fishermen’s Association executive secretary, to provide a detailed response regarding the project’s issues and plans for improvement.
