The Resources Management of the Japanese glass eel in Taiwan
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Lee, Kuei-Hsiang
Abstract
Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) is an important aquaculture species in East Asia. Due to unavailable commercial production of artificially propagated glass eels, the abundant elvers are caught on the estuaries to supply the aquaculture demand, which causes serious overfishing and competition among East Asia countries for glass eel resources. Therefore, monitoring and managing the eel resources should be the key strategy for the sustainability of eel aquaculture industry. In this study, we had investigated and monitored the yearly glass eel resource of Taiwan. We tried to establish a reasonable managing strategy of glass eels in Taiwan. Results showed that regarding the recruitment of Taiwanese elver, there is a significant difference in statistics between the Taiwan Fisheries Yearbook and Japanese aquaculture news. The annual glass eel recruitment is highly fluctuated. The Taiwan Fisheries Yearbook shows that the recruitment is between October and April, and in Taiwan the catching area is the countries near the sea. The Elver Online Reporting System discerns the elver production information and establishes online reporting system of elver fishing in Taiwan on time. However, the data collection method should be improved to reflect the actual situation. The suggestion for the improvement of the Elver Online Reporting System is to monitor the correct glass eel recruitment timely with the participation of all counties where elvers are caught. For management and strategic studies, we have collected relevant laws and regulation of eel management from Japan, China, Korea, Europe, Taiwan and the United States of America. The regulation for glass eel catch is based on units of county in Japan, province in China, central government in Korea, European Union in Europe, and states in U.S.A. In Taiwan, glass eels export is banned in period between November and March. However, the early recruitment of glass eels is popular for eel farmers in Japan, leading to a high unit price and illegal export by Taiwanese local eel traders. This indicates the ineffective enforcement of the law in Taiwan. The government should promote the fisheries association of counties all over Taiwan to form managing units, in order to perform regulations of glass eels to maximize the profit of fishermen and eel farmers and protect the eel resource efficiently. For example: 1. catch license must be applied so that the government can track glass eel recruitment. 2. The illegal catch time can be set between November and February. 3. The Taiwan officials are recommended to start to talk with Japanese government. If Japan agrees to export glass eel to Taiwan prior to Feb or March, Taiwan will cancel the ban on export elvers. This result surely will be favored by both sides. Lastly, the Taiwan government is suggested to consult with other East Asian countries to maximize the benefit of the eel industry.
Subjects
Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica)
glass eel
resource management
trade
SDGs
Type
thesis
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