Taiwan fish breeders worry about mainland sales

Fish breeders in southern Taiwan are worried that sales of milkfish to the Chinese mainland will fall sharply this year, as Taiwan's new leader Tsai Ing-wen avoids recognition of the 1992 Consensus.

From 2011 to 2015, through the established framework of cross-Strait economic cooperation, hundreds of fish farmers in Tainan City sold over 2,000 tonnes of milkfish per year to the mainland, one fifth of their output.

The five-year arrangement expired last year.

"I have sold about one and a half tonnes of milkfish to the mainland and earned about 100,000 new Taiwan dollars (3,000 U.S. dollars) per year for the past five years," said 62-year-old aquiculturist Kuo Mau-lin.

If milkfish are not to be sold to the mainland, prices will fall, he said, adding he is very likely to suffer losses.

"The previous five-year purchase contract benefited local breeders a lot," said Wang Wen-tsung, head of the Tainan Milkfish Breeders Association.

The program came through cooperation based on recognition of the 1992 Consensus by both sides, he said.

Taiwan's new leader still has not clarified her position on the consensus, and this will no doubt have an effect on the fortunes of his members, said Wang.

Chen Yu-hui, director of another agricultural society in Tainan, urged Tsai to recognize the consensus at an early date.

She should not sacrifice the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and fishermen for the interests of her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he said.

She should accept the consensus,and create a favorable environment for trade, he added. Endi