| Taiwan's fishery industry comprises deep-sea, inshore and coastal fisheries as well as fish breeding, with a combined production of 1.319 million metric tons in 2005. The deep-sea sector led the fish catch, commanding a lion's share of 54.5% of the total production, followed by fish breeding with 23.7%, inshore fishing with 15.7% and coastal fishing with 4.2%.
Compared to 2004, the fish catch from the coastal fishing dropped in 2005 and that of the other three categories increased, with the inshore fishing posted the highest growth of 10.0%, followed by fish breeding with 4.6% and deep-sea fishing with 4.2%. In 2006, the production value of Taiwan's fishery industry is expected to drop 1.6% from last year, with deep-sea fishing to suffer the largest drop of 15.6% in output value, inshore fishing to decline 2.9%, fish breeding to shrink 1.3% and coastal fishing to edge down 0.2%.
In line with the entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the growing efforts by nations on ecological climate protection in their economic water zones, the government is actively promoting its fishery policy by encouraging the development of refined fishery, adjusting the structure of the industry, improving the facilities of fishing ports, reinforcing the protection of fishing resources, and boosting the recreational fishing industry, among others. Such efforts are expected to help increase the income of fishermen and boost their living standard. |
