Taiwan is
one of the world’s top seafood exporters. The cold and warm current converging
in Taiwan’s water make it a rich fishing ground. Our fish market never runs out of the fresh
fish. The seasons also bring us a great variety of seafood selections. Seafood is
on the top of our Must-Eat list for travelers in Taiwan.
However, Taiwan is not exempt from the global overfishing issues. Seafood lovers, do you
know that we might not be able to eat
wild fish in 20 years?!?!
It is important to know the sustainable seafood
in Taiwan before you go.
The shortage of fish stocks
There are a
few reasons that cause the dramatic decline in our fish stocks, overfishing,
illegal fishing, habitat damage and regulations.
Overfishing:
Catching Fish Faster than They Can Reproduce
Today, 90
percent of the world's fisheries are either fully exploited, overexploited or
have collapsed. The global fishing fleet is operating at 2.5 times the
sustainable level—there are simply too many boats chasing a dwindling number of
fish. One reason is the advent of industrial-scale fishing invented in the
80’s.
Illegal
Fishing
The fewer
fish there are, the more desperate we become to catch them. Inevitably, this
leads to illegal fishing. International fisheries management agencies report
that at least a quarter of the world's catch is illegal, unreported or
unregulated.
Habitat
Damage
Gears that
drag across the seafloor like trawls and dredges can destroy delicate habitats
that provide shelter, food and breeding grounds for fish and other species.
Regulations
Around the
world, regulations dealing with overfishing and other ocean issues are, with
few exceptions, weak and poorly enforced.
For more
research information, pl ease visit
What can WE do NOW? Selecting
Sustainable Seafood.
We can do
it. It is not so hard. There are plenty of general sea food guides available and
guides specific to certain countries or areas.
The choice
of sustainable seafood can be complex sometimes when you don’t have much
information about where it is from. It adds a bit more complication when you travel
to a foreign country where you may see seafood that you have never seen before. No worries. Follow the rules of thumb
below and save some seafood guides in your phone. You are good to go.
Rules of Thumb
1. Common > Rare species
2. Silver > Colorful species
3. Migratory > Sedentary species
4. Sand > Reef Rock inhabitants
5. Avoid seafood transported in long
distance (energy consuming)
6. Avoid long-lived large predator fishes
(high in heavy metal accumulation)
7. Farmed > Wild Caught species (depending
on the species)
8. Species farmed by botanical feeds >
by fish meal
9. Choose lower trophic level species
10. Avoid seafood caught by unsustainable
fishery methods
This
guide is awesome. It lists photos and Chinese names (pinyin) for popular
seafood you will see in the restaurants and markets in Taiwan. If you can’t
recognize it by the photo, you can ask them to tell you in mandarin and search
by pinyin. The best way to use this guide is to open the link on your phone and
save the screen shots. When you are out at the restaurants or markets, just
pull your phone out and there you go.
Alternatively,
you could click on these photos and save them.
NEW! Taiwan Fish Database released a PDF version of Taiwan seafood guide. Please feel free to download here if you would like a print out copy.
We
will cover the seafood recommendations in Taiwan soon. Stay tuned and choose
good fish.
FYI,
we also recommend some cool, handy seafood guide apps. They are not specific to
Taiwan but it might work for where you live. Check them out.
Seafood Watch
Good Fish Guide
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