Project Name：Aquaculture Project (Phase II)

Project status：Projects in Operation

Cooperating Country：Asia-Pacific, Palau

Project Description：

In alignment with Palau’s national food security and blue economy policies, this project focuses on the sustainable management of marine resources. It aims to expand aquaculture scale and species diversity to reduce reliance on coastal fishing, supporting the goal of 100% sustainable management of Palau’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The project will assist the Palau National Aquaculture Center (PNAC) and Palau Community College (PCC) in increasing the production of rabbitfish, milkfish, and sea cucumber seedlings for local cage culture. It will also develop technologies for high-potential emerging species (sea urchins) and introduce smart farming systems to enhance efficiency.

Key Focus Areas:

• Diversifying seedling supply: stabilizing the supply of rabbitfish, milkfish, and sea cucumber, and developing sea urchin breeding techniques.
• Expanding production scale: promoting sustainable, integrated aquaculture models for rabbitfish and sea cucumbers.
• Establishing community demonstration sites: empowering communities by linking aquaculture to local economic activities.

Project No：TT-310-2026-019

Implementation Start Date：2026-01-01

Implementation End Date：2030-12-31

Project Objectives：

1. Enhancing autonomous supply: reduce dependence on external sources by establishing a stable, diversified local seedling production system and implementing water quality monitoring.

2. Scaling and efficiency: help fishers expand production through cage culture and systematic data collection to boost management efficiency and household income.

3. Community-led management: create community-centric demonstration sites to foster responsibility for sustainable fisheries and fulfill blue economy goals.

Executing Agency：

Bureau of Fisheries (Palau), Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Palau.

Current Progress：

By the end of March 2026, the key achievements of this project include:

Increased aquaculture seedling production:

(1) Rabbitfish fingerlings: PNAC has produced 11,500 30-day-old rabbitfish fingerlings, while PCC Aquaculture Station has produced 1,000 fingerlings.

(2) Milkfish fry: cultivated 50 milkfish broodstock and produced 13,915 fry over one month old, which were distributed to 2 aquaculture farmers.

(3) Sea cucumber juveniles: PNAC has produced 2,400 sea cucumber juveniles, and 20 sea cucumber broodstock have been transferred to PCC Aquaculture Station for cultivation.

Enhanced aquaculture station functions:

(1) Transferred 25 rabbitfish broodstock to PCC Aquaculture Station.

(2) Assisted PCC Aquaculture Station in establishing microalgae and rotifer culture techniques, and provided guidance on sea cucumber induced spawning and seedling trial production.

Aquaculture extension:

(1) Assisted 2 rabbitfish farmers with 18 cages, including 2 cages with 4,800 rabbitfish in Koror State, and helped farmers harvest 807 pounds.

(2) Assisted 3 sea cucumber farmers with 6 cages, including cage cleaning, juvenile growth monitoring, and juvenile stocking.

Emerging species and smart aquaculture:

(1) Completed 5 wild sea urchin resource surveys in Ngaraard and Peleliu States.

(2) Completed preliminary planning for the smart aquaculture demonstration area at PNAC.

Community aquaculture demonstration:

(1) Convened 2 preparatory meetings for the Community Aquaculture Joint Management Committee.

(2) Completed a preliminary assessment of infrastructure conditions at the women’s revitalization base and aquaculture demonstration site.

(3) Established the first standard sea cucumber cage in Melekeok State, covering 108 square meters, and stocked 1,000 sea cucumber juveniles.

Project Contact：YEH, CHEN-CHUN

Phone：+886 2 2888 6141

E-mail：ccyeh@icdf.org.tw

Projected Benefits：

By the project's end, the output value of supported aquaculture products is expected to reach US$723,548, a 165% growth compared to Phase I.

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Palau