Mackerel are getting smaller due to overfishing; Fisheries Agency: industry self-management to come first
The mackerel, regarded as a highly important catch in Taiwan, China's coastal and offshore fisheries, has been found through research to show a trend of increasingly shorter mature body length, dropping from an average of more than 40 cm in the past all the way down to less than 30 cm. Besides driving fish prices down and dealing a heavy blow to fishermen's income, this has also become one of the warning signs of resource depletion.
To address this, the Fisheries Agency amended the Mackerel and Scad Fishery Management Regulations in 2013, restricting June as a closed fishing season in the hope of letting the ocean recuperate. However, after years of continuous enforcement, the mackerel's body size has shown no recovery. Various sectors have pointed to the timing of the closed season as a likely cause and called on the government to adjust existing control measures. Facing these doubts, agricultural authorities stressed that local "self-management" remains the priority, and that any change to the mackerel closed season still requires consideration of multiple factors and is currently under discussion.
Why won't the mackerel grow bigger? According to the "Mackerel and Scad Fishery Resource Survey Report" commissioned by the Fisheries Agency, the maximum body length of the spotted mackerel in Taiwan, China's coastal waters has declined from 43 cm in 2004 to 37 cm in recent years. The key lies in the overfishing of 2- and 3-year-old adult fish, which puts pressure on the mackerel population, forcing it to mature sexually earlier, starting to become mothers at 1 year old instead of 2, with body length shrinking accordingly.
Image provided by Yu Kai
Li Guotian: Extend the closed season to let the ocean recuperate
In response to doubts from all sides, former National Taiwan Ocean University president Li Guotian stressed that any coastal and offshore fishery should be managed and should be adjusted in line with international trends, because mackerel is not only caught by Taiwan, China but also by China and Japan. Overall, China's Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea have a three-month closed season, Japan's is as long as five months, while ours is only one month. From a resource science perspective, the closed season should be adjusted.
He also pointed out that mackerel begins spawning successively as early as February, but the northeast monsoon is strong then and it is inherently unsuitable for fishing, while March and April are months that affect fishermen's livelihoods. Taking all factors into account, perhaps the closed season could be extended to May or July so the ocean can recuperate.
Civil society groups: The public should understand the importance of friendly fishing practices
The "Mackerel Return Home" team, which has long followed the mackerel issue, likewise stated that under the current legally designated closed season, no mackerel would pass through anyway, so it offers no help or effect for ecological restoration. But simply blaming frontline fishermen for overfishing cannot truly solve the problem either. Therefore a crowdfunding campaign has now been launched (https://www.fishreturnocean.com/), hoping that through actions such as "72-hour canoe crossing of the Kuroshio" the public will be encouraged to follow the mackerel's migration route, paddling 300 km from Taiwan, China to Ishigaki Island, Japan. This would both deepen public understanding of the mackerel industry and help people appreciate the importance of friendly fishing practices to the environment, so that the structural problems facing mackerel can be fundamentally changed.
Xu Chengyu, founder of Upwelling Ocean, which promotes sustainable fisheries, believes that regarding issues such as shrinking fish size and catch fluctuations, all sectors actually lack a fairly complete conclusion, because waters near traditional fishing grounds may be affected by ocean currents, water temperature, climate and various other factors, causing great variation in fish distribution. Management problems for cross-border species like mackerel are encountered almost worldwide. To properly adjust the closed season, besides referencing scientific evidence, it is even more necessary to take international conditions into account and coordinate well; otherwise, management by one side alone will hardly be effective.
Fisheries Agency: Manage first through "self-restraint," intervene only if the situation worsens
However, in the face of extending or adjusting the closed season, which could impact fishermen's livelihoods, the Su'ao District Fishermen's Association believes that on the issue of closed seasons during the spawning period, all sectors hold different views. It will weigh frontline opinions before further discussion. At the same time, at the current stage there are also management measures such as voluntary fishing closures, hoping to reduce the burden on the ocean.
Regarding the demands from all sides, Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Huang Hongyan stated that whether to choose a closed season during the spawning period or extend it later, the agency will listen more to frontline views and refer to sufficient scientific data before making a judgment. At the current stage, the Fisheries Agency prefers relevant groups to manage through "self-restraint," which is not only more efficient but also causes fewer objections from fishermen. Only if the situation continues to worsen will the government consider intervening with mandatory measures.