Coveted Deep-Sea Fish Bred for First Time in Taiwan

Taiwan has successfully artificially bred the blackthroat seaperch, a fish that fetches high prices over Lunar New Year.

Transcript

00:00 "Taiwanese."

00:01 "Are they expensive?"

00:02 "Expensive, expensive."

00:03 "They're cheap."

00:04 Would you pay $100 US dollars per kilogram for a fish?

00:09 People in Taiwan have no problem shelling out big for the blackthroat sea perch, a deep

00:14 sea fish that's popular at Lunar New Year.

00:18 Prized for its delicate texture and its high fat content, the fish is not easy to come

00:23 by.

00:24 "It's wild."

00:25 "Wild."

00:26 "You have to have a fish to catch it."

00:27 Living between 100 and 600 meters below the surface, it's a tricky fish to catch.

00:34 It dies easily in nets and is usually caught individually on a line.

00:39 Its rarity and popularity have threatened each year's harvest, but now there might be

00:44 a solution.

00:46 Taiwan's agriculture ministry has successfully bred the fish artificially for the first time.

00:51 By catching blackthroat sea perch in the wild, then fertilizing their eggs in a lab, scientists

00:57 managed to hatch 500 out of 50,000 eggs.

01:01 The complicated process is a major step forward for Taiwan's aquaculture industry.

01:06 "The egg is just right.

01:08 If it's not enough, it won't grow."

01:12 "You have to be very good at measuring time, place, and everything."

01:15 But if the technology can be refined, it could help replenish the population of the coveted

01:20 fish.

01:21 "We breed the fish, then we let them go back to the sea for breeding."

01:26 Blackthroat sea perch are known as "deep-sea rubies" in Taiwan because of their red color.

01:32 The nickname reflects their popularity and value.

01:35 With this latest development, these precious gems of the ocean may soon reach a few more

01:40 tables.

01:41 Chris Ma and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.

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