To say goodbye to the gloom brought by Morakot, and to help fishermen rebuild their confidence, the Aquaculture Development Association of Pingtung County today (the 20th) held post-August 8th disaster thanksgiving prayers in the Jiadong Township’s Wunfeng Village. On the one hand the activity offered prayers for the well-being of the villagers, and on the other hand it hoped to give thanks to the central and local governments, military and the community for their assistance and concern during the storm and to express their appreciation, hoping to re-unite the local cohesion and vitality, and restore prosperity to the aquaculture industry in Pingtung County.

On Thanksgiving evening there were a hundred tables at the banquet, and the organizer invited those who assisted in the disaster and the reconstruction from all walks of life to participate. The organizers produced a special 2.3 meter gentian grouper lamp, for the guests to light the lamp to pray for blessing. The ceremony also offered recognition of meritorious relief efforts: CEO Lin Join-sane and Deputy CEO  Chern Jenn-Chuan of the Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council, Executive Yuan, Vice-chairman Hu Hsinghua of the Council of Agriculture, Fisheries Deputy Director Cai Riyao, Magistrate Tsao Chi Hung of Pingtung County, and the 8th Division Army Major General Jiang Chengchong were invited to attend.

Pingtung County Aquaculture Development Association Chairman Huang Zai Tuan in opening remarks said that after the disaster last year, he lost motivation after seeing his life’s efforts washed away. Thanks to all sectors of society who lent a helping hand, and thanks to the enthusiastic community assistance, special thanks to the Reconstruction Council, Council of Agriculture, as well as the county government and other central and local government units who actively coordinated the provision of resources, as well as military and police and fire personnel who helped cleaned their homes in the harsh environment, local residents were able to restart their lives. These are all things that local residents will remember in their hearts.

CEO Lin Join-sane said that activities of the bustling scene this evening were very different from last year's gloomy situation, showing that the flood did not beat people down. One week after the hurricane, the government set up reconstruction, and in 20 days the Legislative Yuan passed special regulations, and 3 months later the special budget of NT$116.,5billion00,000,000 came in; six months later the permanent housing was completed and more than 500 families moved in, thanks to the selfless cooperation of all those involved. CEO Lin expected the grouper aquaculture technology to stay in Taiwan, and would become more competitive in the future.

Vice Chairman Hu pointed out that Taiwan has a high-tech intensive aquaculture grouper industry, and other geographical and climatic advantages, so the Council of Agriculture plans to double grouper production through the “Healthy and Excellent High-End Agriculture Project" in the hope that through this upgrade after the disaster rehabilitation experience, future production or capacity can be increased.

Taiwan’s aquaculturing of groupers occupies a leading position in the world, whether in farming or breeding techniques. Pingtung County is the main farming area (taking 49.8% of the nationwide area), it’s industry production value accounts for 67% of the whole country. Even though Typhoon Morakot destroyed the farms, during the restructuring process, the Government provided assistance and guidance to the fishermen via the Morakot special act. During this process, the government even superseded current regulations to ensure that the fisheries were filled with soil from the Linbian river. The benefited area reached 310.67 hectares and the residents affected by the typhoon saved about NT$740 million. 

Currently the national grouper industry output reaches 90% of the previous level. Even Pingtung County, the most affected area, has already reached 86% (623.6 hectares) of the previous area. As a result of the signing of ECFA, the grouper customs duty will be reduced from 10.5% to 0 percent after 2 years, which will further solidify the foundation of Taiwan as the grouper kingdom, and make Taiwan the largest exporter of grouper worldwide.

The Pingtung Linbian and Jiadong areas were heavily affected by Typhoon Morakot and were able to recover their hard hit farming industry within a short time. This was not only due to the hard work of the fishermen, but was also because the gGovernment re-integrated resources during the reconstruction period and was active in quick and resolute decision-making. This is a perfect example of the reconstruction. The thanksgiving party concluded at eight o'clock in the evening in a warm and emotional atmosphere.