A Study on the Light Seine Fishery in the Taiwan Strait

Taiwan Strait is the traditional fishing ground for light-seine fishery. Recently, fishery resources in the Taiwan Strait have been dwindling year after year. However, although the number of light-seine fishers has been decreasing, yield has remained relatively smooth and steady. There are many upwelling regions in the Taiwan Strait. Large quantities of plankton reproduce in these upwelling areas and the hydrological conditions there are stable, which is favorable for fish to concentrate and seek food. The light-seine, which mainly catches pelagic fish, destroys marine geologic environment lightly and damages only a few young fish. The pelagic fish stocks recover quickly, and the annual catch of the pelagic fish in the Strait has not reached the maximum sustained yield. Therefore, light-seine fishery in the Taiwan Strait has a bright future. However, since the catch per unit of effort (CPUE) of light-seine in 1996 was under the highest point of the regression curve of growing tendency, the fishing effort should not just be increased without considering its economic results.