The price of grouper fell sharply, losing political dividend and competitive advantage. Experts: should take advantage of the crisis to restructure the industry.

372 share

Grouper is a necessary front dish for wedding banquets in many restaurants. Twenty years ago, Taiwan was praised as the Kingdom of groupers. In 2010, the two sides of the strait signed an ECFA agreement, which included grouper on the early collection list (tax-free items), so that Taiwan's grouper industry could enjoy political dividends. In 2014, the total output of grouper reached an all-time high of 26000 tons, with more than 80% of its production exported to China.

However, with the rise of the grouper aquaculture industry in China, the output has increased by more than eight times year by year, and Taiwan's grouper has been losing ground. When the Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2016, China began to levy a 13% business tax on Taiwan's grouper. Coupled with China's policy of banning extravagance, the price of grouper sold exclusively in restaurants has been hit hard.

With the outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan in February this year (2020), the closure of major cities in China comprehensively affected trade, and the restaurant boom was sluggish, affecting the sharp decline in the volume of grouper shipments. although spring is supposed to be the off-season for grouper shipments, prices have plummeted downwards. whether it can rebound is still unknown. Is there any other way out for grouper other than the Chinese market? In addition to restaurant banquet dishes, is it possible for grouper to enter the family table to expand access?

Can traditional green spots enter the family table in addition to restaurant banquets? (photo courtesy of / hairy fish) more than 70% of Taiwan grouper sales, the price of pneumonia in Wuhan has dropped sharply

The main producing areas of grouper in Taiwan are in the Gaoping area, and there are three main species, including the traditional green spots that are common at banquets, the gentian groupers that need to be preserved for many years, and the dragon and tiger groupers, which are popular in recent years. At present, 70% of the production is sold to China (including Hong Kong) in the mode of live fish carriers, providing local plate merchants and restaurants for further cultivation, in response to the Chinese consumption habit of eating live fish.

Wuhan pneumonia broke out after the Lunar New year, and the price of grouper has continued to decline. The price of green grouper at the pool edge is 70 to 90 yuan per catty, and that of gentian grouper is 160 to 190 yuan per catty. Compared with the same period last year, farmers sigh that they are already selling at a loss.

! function {var n = "InfogramEmbeds", o=e.getElementsByTagName ("script"), dazzo [0], else if / ^ e.location (e.location)? "http:": "https:"; if (/ ^\ / {2} / .test (I) & (i=r+i), process&& [n] & & process&& [n] .process (); else if (! e.getElementById (s)) {var a=e.createElement ("script") A. Asyncwriting 1 document,0 a. Idyllic. A. Srcedi. ParentNode.insertBefore (a, d)}} (document,0, "infogram-async", "/ / e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js")

In the face of price fluctuations, Zheng Chunzhong, a businessman with three live fish carriers, said: "the pneumonia attack coincided with the off-season of grouper. Most of the grouper was sold a year ago, and now there are not many groupers in the pond. Therefore, it does not have much impact on the industry for the time being. " As for the price of grouper, Zheng Chunzhong believes that the main reason is the slow sales caused by the reduction in restaurant demand. However, it is still off-season after the year, and there are not too many groupers in the farmers' pond. Zheng believes that there is no need to panic excessively.

Chen Zhongmin, director general of the Linbian fishing Association, said: "the peak season of grouper is in the second half of the year until the Spring Festival, and only a small amount of grouper is still in the pond after the year, and it has not yet grown to the size of the market. Even if the market tightens, the impact on the industry is still limited. Fishermen may not make money or make small losses, waiting for the market to gradually digest. "

It is up to the farmers to wait and see whether to continue to release seedlings this year.

Although the market and fishermen are calm about the depressed prices, for farmers, as long as they have the opportunity to ship goods, fishermen still want to sell them as soon as possible, because "if the fish are in the pond, they not only have to consume feed, but also grow up day by day." if the size is larger than the size of the market, the price of inferior products will be even lower.

Another pressing question is whether to put water into new fish fry when the water is warm in spring. This year, many grouper farmers are conservative and wait-and-see. Su Chin-fu, who breeds grouper (green grouper), believes, "We will continue to put in seedlings, but the quantity will be reduced a little more." On the one hand, considering the current situation is not clear, on the other hand, it is also envisaged that if the epidemic ends in the second half of the year, there will have to be fish on hand when the economy recovers. "

Apart from the uncertainty of the epidemic, the reason for the conservatism of fishermen's planting is that after 2016, due to the political changes on both sides of the strait, the price of grouper collapsed and continued to hover at a low level. although fishermen still release grouper every year, they have to feel uneasy about the political changes on both sides of the strait every year.

Grouper according to the size of different specifications, there are different purchase prices, the picture shows green spots. (photo / Lin Jiyang) fishing club: cross-strait relations affect the grouper transaction, which is originally a political fish.

According to Chinese official statistics (2012-2018), the production of grouper exceeded 70, 000 tons in 2012, nearly 160000 tons in 2018, eight times that of Taiwan, and actually exceeded 200000 tons in 2015, according to the United Nations. Ten years after the signing of ECFA, Taiwan's grouper production peaked in 2013 and 2014, and then gradually declined, but China's grouper production has increased dramatically, Taiwan has lost its industrial competitiveness, and prices have never returned.

Zhan Manze, an associate professor at Ocean University, who wrote an article predicting the grouper collapse in 2016, said that with the Communist Party of China banning extravagant orders, the demand for grouper in the market is gradually declining, but the supply continues to increase, and a market collapse should be imaginable. Sure enough, the price of grouper nearly halved that year, and it has not yet returned to the level.

Zhan Manche believes: "Taiwan grouper has long relied on the Chinese market, and the output of Chinese grouper is much larger than that of Taiwan. Any change in the Chinese market will impact prices. If again because of cross-strait political interference, Taiwan will easily fall into a passive state." She also suggested that the government and the grouper industry should think of a new way out as soon as possible.

Faced with the risk warning of relying more and more on the single market, Chen Zhongmin said: "grouper is a political fish. Such a big market is nearby. If you don't do this, what can fishermen do?" It is impossible for farmers to leave the pond empty. "

Chen Zhongjing, director-general of Linbian fishing association. (photography / Lin Jiyang) Chairman of the Seedling Association: crisis is a turning point. You should make up your mind to re-take stock of the grouper industry.

Yu Naiheng, director of the Aquatic Seedling Association, the most representative professional aquaculture non-governmental organization in China, believes that the gap in the grouper industry between the two sides of the strait is not only due to the large overall production capacity in China, but also to the widening technology gap caused by policy support. "in recent years, domestic aquaculture research funds have focused on AI 4.0intelligent control and technology transfer, neglecting basic research and seedling cultivation, and the achievements of aquatic product research and development have become that only large companies can achieve technology transfer, unable to pump into the aquaculture industry dominated by small farmers." He said.

Second, Taiwan's aquaculture industry has been comfortable in the single market for too long, and the production environment has not changed much over the past decade, which is not conducive to the development of other markets. Yu believes: "over the past decade, markets such as the European Union and Japan have more stringent environmental and safety and health standards for imported aquatic products, such as wastewater discharge, drug testing, and aquaculture environment. Taiwan must face these problems and raise its own standards in order to make a breakthrough."

Yu Naiheng suggested that the government should take advantage of the opportunity of transformation and make up its mind to take the crisis as an opportunity to put forward policies. "external development quality control is the premise, followed by the promotion of cuisine." He points out that Taiwan's large imports of non-local fish species such as salmon and cod are also due to the cooperation of foreign governments and operators to virtually change the fish-eating habits of Taiwanese consumers.

Yu Naiheng studied abroad for a master's degree in aquaculture, Tokyo Fisheries University, Japan. He is now the chairman of the Aquatic Seedling Association of the Republic of China in Taiwan, the former chairman of the Taiwan Aquatic Transportation and Marketing Cooperative and a researcher of the Aquatic products Experimental Research Institute. (photography / Lin Jiyang) the export of artificial species dragon and tiger spot is limited, it has the ability of reproduction and reproduction, and the outflow will cause ecological harm.

In addition to the industrial physique, Yu Naiheng is also worried that in recent years, most small farmers like to breed artificial species "dragon and tiger spots" along with the market, resulting in a sharp decline in the breeding volume of gentian and green spots, resulting in the risk of the aquaculture industry. Yu Nai-Heng warns that general improvement is "interspecific improvement," but dragon and tiger spots are "different species hybrids," which will cause species conservation and ecological impact. According to general international practice, they cannot be exported, which will restrict the industry.

Looking at the fishery annual report, at present, dragon and tiger spots are mostly exported in the name of green spots and gentians, which has become the "open secret" of aquatic trade. Yu Naiheng said: "as far as the aquaculture profession is concerned, we are against hybrid species. However, with regard to the reality of the industry, there is nothing wrong with it. The industry must move forward in order to survive in the market, otherwise there is no way out. "

He believes that in the long run, the way to strengthen the foundation is to research and develop varieties that are suitable for cultivation and can separate the market. "Seedling is the foundation of the aquaculture industry, and it is nothing more than optimizing varieties or cultivating new varieties, and the resources needed for seedling research can be borne by non-small farmers. It is necessary for the water test institute to shoulder the heavy responsibility."