New trends in oyster farming technology

The coastal areas of Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan are key centers of oyster farming in Taiwan. Every year after Ching Ming Festival, the oyster harvest comes to an end, and many oyster racks are washed up on the shore, resulting in serious marine pollution. In traditional oyster farming, twelve pieces of Styrofoam are placed under each oyster rack. Unfortunately, the Styrofoam easily decomposes in the ocean and drifts off to become marine pollution. In a vicious cycle, fish eat this garbage, and humans then catch and eat the fish, ingesting the pollutants.

To prevent marine pollution, city governments stipulate that oyster farmers must recycle Styrofoam used as buoys on oyster racks, but many choose to burn the racks instead. Tainan oyster farmer Lin Ming-de (林明德) has independently developed an eco-friendly PVC oyster rack, hoping to reduce the burden on oyster farmers while at the same time taking into account environmental protection. However, these so-called “eco-friendly PVC oyster racks” have yet to overcome the problem of becoming brittle under the scorching sun. Hopefully, oyster farmers will continue to develop more eco-friendly oyster racks and eventually strike a harmonious balance between sustaining one’s livelihood and protecting the natural world.

以下為中文對照

「蚵」技新走向

雲嘉南濱海是台灣牡蠣養殖的重鎮，在沿海地區都有不少蚵農。每年清明節過後，牡蠣的收成進入尾聲，就會有許多蚵棚拖吊到岸邊，造成嚴重的海洋汙染。以傳統的竹子蚵架，棚的下面要墊十二個的保麗龍，而保麗龍容易分解變成碎屑在海上漂浮造成海洋的污染，海裡的魚也會將垃圾吃下去，然後人類捕魚、吃魚，最後又進到人類的身體，形成了一種惡性循環。

為防止海洋汙染，市府規定蚵農必須把棚架作為浮具的保麗龍回收，但仍有人選擇燃燒蚵棚，造成環境污染的問題。台南蚵農林明德自行研發了一種PVC材質的「環保蚵棚」，希望可以減輕蚵農負擔又可以兼顧環保。但目前環保蚵棚在烈日下仍會有脆化問題，期許蚵農繼續研發出更好的環保蚵棚。

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