New Taipei's Gongliao Abalone Co-cultivates Purple Sea Urchins to Increase Income in Winter and Summer and Reduce Harvesting Pressure

TAIPEI, July 8 (CNA) -- The New Taipei City Government's Agriculture Bureau announced today that to promote ecological restoration for sustainable balance, it is encouraging aquaculture as an alternative to harvesting. The bureau is guiding Gongliao abalone farmers to co-cultivate high-value purple sea urchins, which can be harvested in both winter and summer. This not only reduces the pressure on wild sea urchin harvesting but also increases income.

At a New Taipei City Government meeting today, Agriculture Bureau Director Chen Hsi-hui gave a special report. He stated that to implement the goals of marine resource conservation and sustainable utilization, the bureau is promoting marine conservation and is committed to creating complete habitats, restoring marine life, and developing intermediate cultivation models. It is also collaborating with various district farmers' and fishermen's associations to promote star products like Wanli Crabs, cumulatively generating over NT$4.1 billion in agricultural and fishery economic output.

Chen Hsi-hui said that in the Yehliu Conservation Area, bamboo clusters are used to simulate gorgonian corals, attracting soft cuttlefish to spawn and attracting more fish and marine life to inhabit the coastal areas. This aims to establish a diverse ecosystem, promote marine organism aggregation, rebuild the marine food chain, and enhance overall resilience.

The Agriculture Bureau told CNA that to improve the survival rate of released fry, it has taken the lead in establishing a "Cultivation Fisheries Intermediate Cultivation Demonstration Base" at Meiyan Mountain Fishing Harbor in Gongliao District. The base is equipped with a grid-shaped net cage. After the fry are delivered, they are first kept in the net cage to adapt to the marine environment of the fishing harbor. After one month of observation and adaptation, they are released. The survival rate before release reaches 95%.

In addition, the Gongliao Marine Resource Restoration Park, serving as a restoration base from 2019 to 2026, has released a total of 820,000 top shell seeds, 40,000 cuttlefish, 27,000 purple sea urchin seeds, 1,000 rock sea urchin seeds, and 199,000 marine fish fry (including black sea bream, yellow sea bream, yellowfin sea bream, spotted sea bream, snapper, Japanese sea bream, and spotted grouper) in the waters of Gongliao.

The Agriculture Bureau's Fisheries Division said that in response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, it is also restoring corals, cultivating seedlings, and releasing organisms to create a healthy marine ecological environment. Currently, it is also promoting "aquaculture as an alternative to harvesting." To increase output value, it is guiding Gongliao abalone farmers to co-cultivate high-value purple sea urchins in the intertidal zone. Sea urchins are harvested in the summer, and top shells (Gongliao abalone) are harvested in the winter. This not only increases income but also reduces the pressure of harvesting wild sea urchins. (Edited by Li Heng-shan) 1150708

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