The Development of Fishfeed Industry in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Cheng-Kin Chen, 陳成金
• Other Authors: Chyng-Hwa Liou
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/52432557049117328020

碩士 === 國立臺灣海洋大學 === 水產養殖學系 === 95 === Abstract The region for aquaculture in Taiwan is about 1.5% of the total land area. The production in aquaculture industry is increasing from 11.9% in 1970 to 23.4% in 2005. A solid foundation in animal feeds development in Taiwan has led to the success of designing and producing artificial feeds for the aquaculture industry. This progress in feeds development, combined with the improvements of aquaculture related hatchery and farming techniques, changed the operation of the entire aquaculture industry as well as its related business models. The farming method, therefore, promoted from extensive to intensive culture, which dramatically increased specific productivity and profit. Most of the aquaculture feeds in Taiwan rely on foreign imports. Among the feed ingredients, fishmeal is one of the most important; however, its consumption is decreasing due to the increasing price. Under such an importation and cost dependent circumstance, aquaculture feeds manufactures have to focus on specialization and expansionism, which results in a better food conversion ratio. In Taiwan, the major aquaculture related feeds are for eel, tiger prawn, milkfish, tilapia, grouper, etc. Among them, the peak period for farming tiger prawn in Taiwan was in 1987. However, the epidemic of Monodon baculovirus infection dramatically decreased the production in 1988. Since then, white shrimp and other fishes, particularly perch and grouper, have been gradually replacing the role of tiger prawn. Among the top ten feeds manufacturers, four focus on high-priced feeds and the rest mainly produce low-priced feeds. Between the years 2000 and 2006, the high-priced feeds had a 43.8% to 52% (average 48%) market share while the low-priced feeds comprised the remaining market. We have selected and studied, as an example, a public company (listed in Taiwan), named G Company, that well represents the traditional feeds industry in Taiwan. The G Company once had the highest market shares in its respective industry, however, due to its weakness against competition, the company’s profits and ranking dropped significantly. Our studies indicate that this company should consider selling each of its products on a separate market to avoid unnecessary competition. Furthermore, decreasing the production cost is another crucial step for this company. Our analyses of the current aquaculture industry in Taiwan indicate that feeds companies, government, and research institutes need to focus on the following issues: (1) invest more aggressively in high-priced fish and shrimp related research; (2) implement better management and continue education systems to feeds companies; (3) pass new feeds related laws; (4) improve feeds production techniques and find other substitutes for certain scarce ingredients; (5) effectively prevent the smuggling of fishery products; and (6) establish rules and regulations to balance production and sales in order to maximize profits. Key Words: aquaculture; aquaculture feeds