Taiwan's native largehead hairtail shrinks as origin prices rise year after year. Is China's practice of taking all sizes an opportunity or a crisis?

(Continued from previous article) The discussion sparked by largehead hairtail selling well in China has also stirred up Taiwanese people's past memories of this "coin-priced delicacy." In the past, largehead hairtail was a common home-cooked dish on the dining table, but in recent years domestically caught largehead hairtail has become rare and expensive. Not only have the public noticed this, but fishermen who make their living from the sea generally have also sensed that "the big largehead hairtail seem to be fewer." Captain Hong of Penghu described that in the past there were many largehead hairtail, and they were all large. About a dozen or so years ago they began to decrease. Previously, half of the largehead hairtail caught were three finger-widths or wider; now three finger-widths account for only about 20%.

Secretary You of the Zihguan District Fishermen's Association in Kaohsiung City, located along the southwestern coast, said that largehead hairtail can be caught year-round, but winter is the peak season, when catches are more abundant. In recent years the catch volume has indeed shown a declining trend, and the thickness and width of the fish have also shrunk. "The catch volume and size of largehead hairtail are very different now."

In the north, Captain Zhang Fengyi, who runs the Jiyang sea fishing boat and has thirty years of fishing experience, sighed "we can't go back" when mentioning the catch. In the past, large largehead hairtail five or six finger-widths wide were very common; now they are generally three or four finger-widths or less, and the numbers are declining year by year. Among anglers, catch results are usually calculated by "how many fridge boxes," In the past, a small 100-liter fridge box could be filled with about 130-150 largehead hairtail (about 60-70 Taiwan jin), and one person could catch 2 boxes in one night. "Now it all has to be counted by the fish; 40 or 50 Taiwan jin in one night counts as impressive."

China's market "takes all sizes." Is largehead hairtail an opportunity or a crisis?

Behind the warning signs revealed by "fewer in number, smaller in size" is the manifestation of enormous business opportunities. China's demand for largehead hairtail is growing, and even though it catches more than 1 million tonnes a year it still cannot meet demand, and must rely on imports. Even the small largehead hairtail that Taiwanese people originally did not like to eat and that had low economic value are now in high demand.

While largehead hairtail created an economic miracle across the strait, it also brought calamity upon itself. As the value of largehead hairtail rose, more and more people entered the fishery. In the past it was mainly sold domestically; in recent years the quantity exported to China has doubled year after year. "It is precisely because there is demand and profit that people desperately catch largehead hairtail. Many fishing boats switched to catching largehead hairtail in the past few years, because largehead hairtail are in coastal and offshore waters, so the fuel cost of going out to sea each day is not much. Low cost plus good prices, and some fishing boats do not even return to port, trading directly at sea, where the price is even better." Awen, a cadre of the northern fishermen's association, revealed these observations from the front line.

However, the history of selling largehead hairtail to China did not begin only in these three or four years. Fishermen described that fishing boats from Penghu and the southwestern coast began shipping largehead hairtail to China as early as twenty years ago. At that time they already saw refrigerated vessel containers waiting in port for fishing boats to unload and load cargo, then setting sail immediately. Some Penghu fishing boats even traded directly at sea, and each transaction volume was not to be underestimated. They pointed out that resources had been shrinking year by year since then, and in recent years it should be that the proportion sold to China from the northeastern corner increased, which is why largehead hairtail policy and resources have attracted so much attention.

Captain Cai of Tainan deeply feels that largehead hairtail prices have improved a lot in recent years. "A dozen or so years ago the market price was 200-300 yuan per jin, and fish that were too small could only be sold cheaply as feed. Now (per jin) it is quoted at over 400."