Tilapia farming. (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China)
Tilapia farmers requested to produce less to boost prices
TAIWAN
Monday, May 29, 2017, 22:10 (GMT + 9)
The Tawaianese Government urges tilapia farmers to reduce the number of farmed specimens in order to help improve prices, which have been negatively affected by increased competition from Southeast Asia.
To meet this requirement, farmers from Chiayi and Yunlin county have been requested to comply with a national policy that hopes to bring down annual tilapia production to 50,000 tonnes, Taipei Times reported.
The Council of Agriculture has already implemented the intiative of freezing excess tilapia to maintain market prices until February next year after considering that last year tilapia exports dropped in pricing.
In this regard, Chiayi County Department of Agriculture official Chang Chien-cheng pointed out that farmers should refrain from high-density fish farming to maintain stability of supply and bolster exports.
The official also clarified that once tilapia production reaches 80 per cent of the revised quota, the government would issue a warning to farmers.
For his part, Chiayi County Councilor Huang Chin-mao stressed that despite their deals with farmers, wholesalers refuse to buy merchandise below the set price, meaning that fish farmers still have no guarantee that their product will be bought.
The official insisted that exports are in the doldrums and that chances of an upturn are minimal.
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