It's the middle of summer a friend that I did not hear from for over three months decided to meet me in Taipei. Since there were a lot of things that we needed to catch up with each other, but we didn't want to go to a café or somewhere that we had always been. Therefore, we decided to spend time doing something that we haven't done before. We would want to give prawn fishing a try, and thus we went to CHE LUEN Shrimp Fishing Farm in Shilin District, New Taipei City. Before our date, I've searched for some prawn fishing-related information in advance.

Prawn Breeding in the 1980s

The prawn breeding history in Taiwan could be dated back to the 1980s. In the early days of Taiwan, there was no breeding technology for shrimp seedlings. The shrimps were all caught from the sea and then thrown into aquaculture seawater ponds to continue cultivating. Therefore, such kind of breeding method definitely would lead to a rather low yield. Not until the Rockefeller Foundation provided the fund and hire Mr. Liao, who had just finished his Ph.D. in Japan, to return and do the research, did the first artificially propagated grass prawn were successfully cultivated in 1986. From then on, the production of Taiwan's shrimp farming nearly became the world's largest, and grass shrimp had gradually become a popular dish in cheap restaurants. However, Taiwan's local freshwater prawns have a relatively small body and therefore it caused low economic benefits and would not be the sustainable development goals of the aquaculture industry. Nevertheless, the imported freshwater prawns, so-called the "Tai prawns", however, is a horse of a different color. This kind of prawn features a pair of long blue claws and is farmed in freshwater and most importantly, it is much bigger than the local prawn. [1]

However, the Tai prawn development was still in its infancy. On the other hand, due to the technical limitations of low-temperature refrigeration, in contrast to the local grass shrimp, the early Thai prawns could not sell well in the prawn market. As a result, in around 1987, the penny drops for the Tai prawn aquaculturist. The local aquaculture farms in Pingtung directly determined to open their prawn ponds to the public for fishing. The fresh and unprecedented recreation appeals to a large number of people in Taiwan, and thus the prawn fishing became widespread. Nowadays, the prawn fishing field became a place for people to greet friends and having a chill time. Some people would sit on the plastic chairs and fish alone and waiting for prawns to take the bait. Besides, the most unique thing is, the fishing field would cook the prawns that you fish for you or you can cook it yourself. That is to say, shrimpers have to catch their own food if they want to enjoy the delicacy. [2]

Let's Enjoy Prawn Fishing

When we enter the prawn fishing spot, we went to the counter to rent fishing equipment. It costs $300 to rent a pole, chair, bait, and basket for an hour, with options to add on additional hours for a slightly cheaper cost. The place is quite clean unless there is a little fishy smell and cigarette. We choose a place to sit and start the prawn fishing. We put the bait on the hooks, throw them into the dim water, and wait for the prawn strike. It is said that in order to make people easier to catch the prawn, the owner of the prawn fishing spot would usually add additional things into the water and make it murky to lower the sight of the prawn. [3] Most of the time, we chatted about something that happened recently, and once the prawn bites the hook, we pulling fairly sharply on the rod. During the waiting time, we also see the pool is refilled with shrimp every hour by the owner. Moreover, since we are not so familiar with fishing, when we encounter problems, the shrimpers beside us are friendly to share their knowledge with us and offer help. 

When four hours passed, we've got a basket of prawns. We decide to cook them at the venue since it is for free and there is a restaurant where we can order other cuisines. Firstly, we wash the prawn carefully and skewer them with a barbecue stick. Then, we season the prawn with salt only and grill them on the stove. To be surprised, the cooked prawns are really in good taste despite we season them so simply. Me and my friend have a delicious dinner there that night and the prawn fishing experience is really valuable and fresh. The time I spend with my friend today become a precious memory that I would carry them with me for a long time.

Wai Shuang Hsi CHE-LUEN Shrimp Fishing Farm

Address:  No. 485, Sec. 2, Zhishan Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei City

Opening Hours:  24/7

Written by Ecco Wang

References:

pic: https://tripmoment.com/Trip/20025

[1] [2] https://opinion.cw.com.tw/blog/profile/439/article/6769

[3] https://www.lookerideas.com/post08205791012843