Along the bank of An Nong River not far from Luodong Sports Park is a large area of neat white tin house in the middle of a farm field. This is where you can find KE LIN YU CHANG – first fish farm in Yilan to use indoor solar-powered water circulation system to rear sturgeons and Murray cods.Farm owner Hsu Chih-yue grew up in a family-run trout farm in Nanzhuang, Miaoli. After completing his military service, he ran a restaurant and guest house in Yingshi Village at the foot of Taiping Mountain. As Kelin District is known for its spring water, and with collaboration between the local Fisheries Research Institute and various academic institutions, Hsu decided to establish KE LIN YU CHANG. In a short span of three years, KE LIN YU CHANG has become the supplier of sturgeons, Murray cods and ayu sweetfish for numerous restaurants.
Introduction
At KE LIN YU CHANG, sturgeons and Murray cods are reared indoor while ayu sweetfish are reared outdoor. Unlike the run-down mess that one usually associates with traditional fish farms, KE LIN YU CHANG resides within a clean white tin house which is identified by a signboard on a door. Inside the tin house are several fish ponds with one side for rearing sturgeons and the other side for Murray cods. Although the cost of indoor fish farming is six times higher than outdoor, Hsu has decided to invest even more capital as the fish farm is located within a special agricultural area. Utilizing natural spring and the concept of sustainability, he built Lanyang’s first indoor water circulation plant, ensures the quality of filtered water for fish farming and even uses wastewater from processing fish products for further purification to rear Taiwan tilapia and growing hydroponic water spinach.
Known for the springy texture of its flesh, the sturgeon can grow to a maximum length of nine meters. But, in general, the most economical selling size is reached in three to five years. With a taste similar to cod, Murray cod can sell for NT$1,000 per kilogram, which is 10 times that of the Taiwan tilapia.
The outdoor area is the ayu sweetfish pond. Harvested during the summer, it takes NT$50,000 a day to feed ayu sweetfish. The Japanese love ayu sweetfish because fresh sweetfish has a melon aroma. To the Japanese, you have not had a good summer unless you have eaten ayu sweetfish.
Having helped out at his family-run trout farm in Nanzhuang, Miaoli, since young, Hsu had learned something about fish farming. As it happened, after his national service, Hsu ran a English-style villa in Yingshi Village, Yilan, providing accommodation and a restaurant, which was quite famous at that time as the restaurant could rotate 360 degrees. Due to the difficulty of operating a restaurant and frequent shortage of cooks, Hsu himself picked up cooking skill too. A decade ago, Hsu wanted to find a piece of land near the city to operate a similar business and came across the approximately 2.4-acre land in Kelin area. Assessing that there seemed to be market saturation in the guest house business, he was hesitating when someone came along wanting to lease the area for rearing ayu sweetfish. He decided to try leasing it out and it lasted for 10 years. When the lease ended three years ago, Hsu took the land back for his own use. To comply with statutory regulations as the land is within the special agricultural area, he invested heavily to build Lanyang’s first indoor solar-powered water circulation plant, and even collaborated with Fisheries Research Institute and National Taiwan Ocean University to develop fish feed for different species of fish. Probiotics are also added to fish feed to help fish reared indoor grow healthily. Utilizing Kelin area’s famous underground spring and circulating it through filtration and sterilization processes, KE LIN YU CHANG achieved sustainability and environmental protection. With their own fish processing factory just next to the farm, they can customize any fish part, size or quantity for restaurants, providing all-in-one service for customers
Features of Agricultural Tourism
Fish Farming
Besides supplying to major restaurants nationwide, the fish farm also sells a wide variety of products, including instant food, such as sweetfish simmered in soy sauce and sugar, and sturgeon sausage. In a few years’ time, when the sturgeons grow to eight years old, customers can even see sturgeon caviar on their shelves.
During his spare time, Hsu makes unique ornaments out of sturgeon bones. This year, he even invented a skin-boosting beer made from sturgeon collagen.
Looking at the wide vacant space in the surrounding, Hsu says he hopes to expand his current scale of operation, combining tourism with agrifood education in the future.
