traditional Chinese solar terms, is the time when flowers blossom and life
begins again in spring. Staff of New Taipei City Marine Resources
Recovery Park are gently brushing abalone larvae off corrugated boards
and moving them to their new home in a cultivation pool for them to
grow. These abalones will be released to the waters of New Taipei City
when they are three centimeters long to enrich marine resources in the
city.
Xiang-Rong Wu, abalone breeder of New Taipei City Marine
Resources Recovery Park, indicated that since abalone larvae hatched in
November, 2019, they have lived on corrugated boards for nearly four
months. During this period of time, they feed on microalgae. Therefore,
to ensure that abalone larvae have sufficient food and grow smoothly,
breeders carefully remove large algae that hinder microalgae from
growing. Now the abalones are approximately one centimeter long, and
microalgae on the corrugated boards are not enough for them. To satisfy
the increased appetite of abalone larvae, breeders gently brush them off
the corrugated boards and move them to their new home made with five-
leg tiles for their burrowing habit by breeders at the bottom of the
cultivation pool. In their new home, they begin feeding on their favorite
large algae—gracilaria. Gracilaria that is transported to the recovery park
might contain some unwanted substances such as silt and other algae, so
breeders have to painstakingly pick them out and wash the algae for
abalone larvae to eat. Meanwhile, they have to change pool water and
clean the cultivation pool regularly to make sure abalone larvae can grow
up healthily in a clean environment where food is sufficient. Breeders
pull their finger out for this year's abalone release event.
New Taipei City Agriculture Department Commissioner Wen Lee
stated that to enrich marine resources in New Taipei City, Agriculture
Department organizes the cultivation and release of the larvae of abalone,
squid and other marine life every year. Additionally, the department will
invite students of elementary schools and junior high schools in the city
to release abalone and squid larvae to the waters of Maoao Bay of New
Taipei City in late May this year in the hope that the concepts of marine
conservation and sustainable resources can be deeply rooted in their
minds.