A cold snap has killed over half the farmed fish in Greater Tainan, Taiwan’s largest fisheries zone by area, according to the Tainan City Government.
Temperatures sank islandwide over the weekend, with the mercury in Taipei falling to 4 degrees Celsius to reach the lowest point since 1972.
The Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office said Monday that the weekend cold snap had killed over half the region’s fish yield.
The office said it needed to wait for all fish carcasses to rise before it could provide a final assessment of damage.
Districts are expected to provide an estimate of financial losses by Wednesday at the earliest.
Greater Tainan is home to Taiwan’s largest fisheries zone by area, about 8,000 fish farms comprising over 15,000 hectares.
The farms, which produce mainly milkfish, tilapia, grouper and clams, are concentrated in Annan District, Cigu District, Beimen District and Syuejia District.
As early as Saturday evening, locals reported finding carcasses of farmed fish floating to the top of ponds.
The Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office said the mortality risk of farmed fish rises as temperatures fall below 10 degrees Celsius.
The weekend cold snap spared fish kept in insulated ponds, mainly milkfish and tilapia that account for 20 to 30 percent of the local fisheries industry, authorities said.
1999 2016 The China Post