Larviculture of finfish and shellfish in Taiwan
Liao, I.-C. (1995). Larviculture of finfish and shellfish in Taiwan, in: Lavens, P. et al. (Ed.) Larvi '95: Fish & Shellfish Symposium, Gent, Belgium, September 3-7, 1995. EAS Special Publication, 24: pp. XXV-XXVI In: Lavens, P.; Jaspers, E.; Roelants, I. (Ed.) (1995). Larvi '95: Fish & Shellfish Symposium, Gent, Belgium, September 3-7, 1995. Special Publication European Aquaculture Society, 24. European Aquaculture Society: Gent. ISBN 90-71625-14-1. XXVI, 521 pp., more In: Special Publication European Aquaculture Society. European Aquaculture Society: Bredene. ISSN 0774-0689, more |
| Abstract | The larviculture of finfish and shellfish in Taiwan has been very successful. Currently, over 100 species are under aquaculture, over 90% of which are already being artificially propagated. In finfish, the spontaneous spawning of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) have been carried out routinely since 1993. Spontaneous spawning reduces the degree of stress on spawners and increases the fertilization and hatching rates. Taiwan has been self-sufficient in seed supply of all species of Chinese carps since 1964, and could even supply the export market. The development of freshwater fry production had been hampered by the limited fish market. A few imported exotic species, such as largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoïdes) and hybrid striped bass (Morone saxatilis x M. chrysops). have been successfully cultured. Larviculture techniques for marine finfish have rapidly advanced in recent years, especially for milkfish (Chanos chanos) and grouper (Epinephellis spp.). Nutritional deficiency, stress handling, and disease infestation are impediments in the development of grouper fry production. The annual production of milkfish larvae from artificial propagation has exceeded 300 million, which largely covers the domestic needs. Therefore fry are no longer captured from the wild. The success of mass seed-production can be attributed to several factors, including the production of rotifers in outdoor ponds, the widespread use of microparticulate feeds, the production of seed for large water volumes in outdoor ponds, highly-specialized secondary enterprises and well experienced aquafarmers. The supply of microalgae, such as Nannochloropsis sp. and Isochrysis spp., to hatcheries in Taiwan also contributed to the success of fry production. Larvae of the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) have been successfully reared through day 31, in Taiwan. Considerable efforts have, however, to be made before eel larviculture is completely established. With regard to shellfish, larvae of the hard clam (Meretrix lusoria), the small abalone (Haliotis diversicolor) and the freshwater clam (Corbicula fluminalis) have been mass produced from hatcheries since two decades, and the supply exceeds the domestic demand. The culture of prawns, such as Penaeus spp., Metapenaeus ensis, and Macrobrachium rosenbergii, has been quite successful. Despite this, the seed production has been plagued by diseases in the grow-out. It was found that Penaeus monodon larvae fed microparticulate feed supplemented with 0.2% beta-l.3- glucan (Schizophyllan) can activate the immune system and thus significantly enhance the survival rate and stress and disease resistance. In this paper, the status of larviculture of finfish and shellfish in Taiwan is discussed. Related problems and strategies to counter them are presented. Although Taiwan may not be able to compete with its neighboring countries in terms of land and labor costs, it can provide the technology and the seeds, thus becoming the regional center for larviculture in the Asian-Pacific region. |
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