Oyster farming in Taiwan has a history of over 300 years, and has provided livelihoods to many households along the Southwest Coast. Dongshi Township in Chiayi County is especially well known throughout Taiwan for its oysters, and has the highest production volume on the island.
Have you ever arrived at a harborside seafood restaurant for a meal, looked over the offerings laid out on the ice, and discovered that you don’t recognize most of the dozens of sea creatures on display?
Taiwan is blessed with a great wealth of marine resources. With access to more than 1,000 seafood species that vary with the season and locale, it’s no surprise that Taiwanese consumers are familiar with only a small percentage of them!
Heping Bridge in Northern Taiwan’s Keelung City straddles the narrow Bachimen Channel, providing access to the islet that lies nearest the main island of Taiwan. The distance is less than 100 meters.
You would think that Heping Island was entirely cut off from the civilized world before the bridge was built. But far from representing an insurmountable barrier, the surrounding sea actually enabled the island’s transformation into a bustling base of operations during the Age of Sail.
Worldwide there are 12 species of billfish—a group of large predatory fish whose upper jaws bear a long, bony spear- or sword-shaped bill. They include marlins, spearfish and sailfish (family Istiophoridae), as well as swordfish (family Xiphiidae). In different seasons of the year, six species of these fast-swimming fish follow the Kuroshio Current into the waters around Taiwan.
This year, the Northern Hemisphere experienced an exceptionally hot summer, with Europe, Asia, and North America sweltering under scorching heatwaves. To highlight the urgency of the climate crisis, UN secretary-general António Guterres has declared the arrival of the “era of global boiling.”
The maritime literature author Liao Hung-chi called it “a rapid knife in the ocean.” It also had a cameo role in the film Life of Pi, where it glistened with a glossy golden-yellow hue. At one time, Taiwan ranked second in the world for its annual catch of this fish, and today it still accounts for some 10% of global production. Over 80% of the Taiwanese catch is exported to the US.
In an era of accelerated economic development, there are many people who choose to move in the opposite direction and dedicate themselves to nature conservation work. Among the methods they use, the “public environmental trust,” which ensures a long-term future for conservation, is the finest form of covenant between humans and nature.
The term “superfood” refers to a food that is healthy and highly nutritious, and may even prevent or mitigate certain diseases. Chlorella (a genus of single-celled green algae) is a superfood that the media reports on every few years because it has the highest content of proteins, nucleic acids, chlorophyll, and vitamin B12 of any species in the plant world.
In 2020, on Cheng Tsung-lung’s sixth day as artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, the company set off on a tour of Europe to perform its 2019 work 13 Tongues. That same year Cheng choreographed Sounding Light, a challenging work in which the performers dance while producing sounds, either synchronizing both elements or playing out a tug of war between them. One critic praised it as “a beautifully crafted work and one that will bear repeated viewings.”
According to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, around 1980 only 9% of the aquatic products consumed by humans came from aquaculture, but that figure rose to 20% in the 1990s and stood at 44% in 2010. It is estimated that by 2030, aquaculture will supply a majority of the world’s seafood. As the planet faces the exhaustion of ocean resources, net-cage aquaculture may take the place of marine fisheries.
