A Light For The Future of Pacific Bluefin

The largest source of revenue for fishing in Pingtung County comes from Pacific Bluefin Tuna (PBF), a significant industry in Donggang. To transform Donggang's rural village into a tourist and cultural place via gastronomic tourism, the Bluefin Tuna Cultural Festival was created in 2001, focusing on bluefin tuna, now represented as cultural heritage and integrated into the local identity of the community.

The festival officially begins when a fisher announces the first tuna catch of the year. Since it marks the beginning of the festival and the tuna season in Taiwan, this catch has a special symbolic meaning and is auctioned at a very high price. The first tuna catch in 2022 was sold at an auction for NT$10,100 (US$343) per kilogram. Tuna auctions are a mediated spectacle in which locals and government officials participate. The tuna are unloaded during the early morning hours and taken to the central warehouse for auction. Fishers, restaurant owners, and tourists roam around the place, where you can hear a mix of Taiwanese and Chinese bargaining for the best price.

Price is not only determined by weight and size but also by the color of the belly. The redder it is, the more expensive it will be because this part is utilized in high-end sushi and sashimi dishes. To determine the right price for their meat, which fishermen and restaurant owners also refer to as "red gold," they are carefully cut open and examined. 

Every year, the Pingtung County Government adds new elements to the festival to draw visitors and encourage them to check out the area's tourist attractions. Along with the fish auctions, there is also an outdoor movie theater that shows Donggang-related films, live music performances, and light displays along the pier. 

The opening ceremony of the yearly Bluefin Tuna Cultural Festival has been held on the plaza of Donglong Temple for several years. The temple, built in 1706, enshrines the Marshal Wen Wang-Ye deity, believed to protect the fishers.  The Burning of Wang-Yeh's Boat, one of Taiwan's most important religious celebrations, is also held in Donggang and sponsored by Donglong Temple. The triennial festival consists of inviting gods to earth, feasting, and pleading with them. The festival will culminate with the burning of a 15-meter-long boat, carved and painted by regional artists, symbolizing taking demons and plagues away from the village. 

Thanks to the festival, Donggang has gained a favorable reputation as a seafood cuisine destination. In a Japanese tour brochure, Hankyu Travel Guide, the village is introduced as “the hometown of tuna." The Travel Guide states, “Donggang is a world-renowned bluefin tuna fishing base, and the summer Tuna Cultural Festival is a must-attend event."  

The village has attempted to implement bottom-up cultural and community-based initiatives, benefiting many community areas, including fishers, restaurants, the lodging industry, and tourism enterprises.

Through the use of seafood as a cultural marker of regional identity, the Cultural Festival promotes interaction between locals and visitors while encouraging rural revivals, such as the return of migrants.

Tuna keep the ocean in check. They underpin the ecosystems where they live and transit. 

The bluefin tuna is an alpha predator, which means that it is at the top of the ocean food chain, as its size and abilities protect it from most of its natural enemies. According to a document published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Bluefin Tuna plays a vital role in its ecosystem since it consumes a wide variety of fish—herring, anchovies, sardines, bluefish, mackerel, and others—and helps maintain the balance of these populations. According to the WWF, "the ecological extinction of this species would have an unpredictable knock-on effect on ocean ecosystems and serious consequences for many other species in the food chain."

Increased catches are encouraged by high prices placed on the fish to increase profits, leading to overfishing.

Since stricter fishing quotas have been implemented, some fishermen have fallen into illegal, unregulated, and undocumented fishing. 

Undocumented fishing affects stock assessments, which are necessary to delimit fishing quotas and establish accurate regulations. 

 _{Sometimes we stay up all night or even days if we don't catch any tuna. If we don't comply we are not able to sleep, and we don't get paid.}   — Anonymous Fisherman.

High supply demands also lead to exploitative labor environments.

Most of the crew members in Taiwanese fishing vessels are from Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam or Indonesia.  Reports of labor violations on Taiwanese-flagged vessels  have surfaced more frequently in recent years. Most reports are the same: confiscated identification, verbal and physical abuse, and unpaid wages. James Morris, a journalist in Taiwan, states: “These reports focus on the signs of a global fishing industry that has largely been left outside of international regulatory standards and operates in a setting where enforcement is typically challenging.” 

From May to June, Pacific Bluefin Tuna come around Taiwanese Waters to spawn, that is, to lay their eggs and reproduce. This seasonal agglomeration of tuna facilitates their catch. However, this also means that mothers are caught sometimes without laying their eggs.

Although they lay vast numbers of eggs, their ultimate survival rate is tiny. Only two southern bluefin fish are thought to survive to adulthood. The ecology and behavior of the southern bluefin are similar to that of the Pacific bluefin. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Pacific bluefin's survival rate will differ from that of the southern bluefin, according to Wu Chi-Lun, a Taiwan Fisheries Research Institute researcher.

With their low survival rate and the fact that mothers are occasionally caught before they have even laid their eggs, there is a concern for the prospects of future tuna generations. 

The Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC) has assigned specific annual catch quotas to Taiwan to control overfishing.

All tuna catches must have a tag and label that detail the location, weight, gender, and size. Fishers must report every catch and cannot sell their catches without doing so. This regulation aims to stop illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

Taiwan developed its eco-label, the  Responsible Fisheries Index (RFI) [責任漁業指標 ], so that consumers can track their fish and determine whether it comes from sustainable fisheries. This implementation facilitates the making of sustainable purchasing decisions. 

The Ocean Conservation Administration and the Marine Ecology and Conservation Research Center in Taiwan are working to implement marine conservation as part of the National Education curriculum to increase future generations' literacy in marine ecology and ocean conservation.  They also aim to expand Marine Protected Areas (MPA's) to account for 30% of Taiwan’s offshore borders and domestic water areas, including PBF spawning waters.