According to the survey conducted by the USR program research team of National Taiwan Ocean University, factors such as the aging population, population outflows of young people, and fishery depletion have resulted in declines in fisheries, fishing villages, and fishermen in the northern coast of Keelung and the Matsu Islands. The Ministry of Education has led the efforts in finding solutions for the issues related to fisheries, fishing villages, and fishermen. National Taiwan Ocean University is proposing the “Prosperity for Fisherman, Fishing Village and Fishery - International Blue Economy Pilot Zones” USR Program to achieve sustainability and will start from the aspects of ecological sustainability, cultural heritage, and industry innovation by collaborating with the local government, fishermen's associations, industry promotion associations and inter-school and international partners to promote the prosperity for fishermen, fishing village and fisheries.
Ecological Sustainability (Fishery Issues)
Due to the gradual depletion of fishery resources along the northern coast of Keelung, which makes the general public unfamiliar with marine conservation, this program is introduced to promote seafood education. Starting with the knowledge in the areas of fish and algae, a series of activities are organized to build basic values and change concepts in people. At the same time, the program actively helps high school teachers in Keelung to promote teaching plans which are then promoted by the teaching community of the University System of Taipei to other partner schools to enhance the general public's understanding of the ocean.
In addition to promoting the concept of environmental conservation for the people, the program actively engages in the restoration of Maoao Bay of Gongliao by developing artificial breeding of pharaoh cuttlefish and Wanli crabs which generate economic value. 5,000 baby cuttlefish and 10,000 fertilized eggs of cuttlefish are released each year to restore the marine resources of the northern coast. After learning that our school is capable of restoring the population of cuttlefish, the local fishermen have begun to hand over the eggs inadvertently laid on fishing boats and gear by cuttlefish to our school to conduct incubation, indicating that fishermen have started to build the awareness of conservation and restoration.
Cultural Heritage (Fishing Village Issues)
In response to the fading of traditional culture in Badouzi, events to revitalize the local community, such as classes to teach Dioscorea cirrhosa seawater dyeing and promote the sales of related products and the local dragon boat culture, are organized by the program. The preservation efforts for local culture have been recognized by the Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank of the Ministry of Culture, and it is expected that the culture of female divers for dive fishing, papercraft for funerals, and green-faced lions will be introduced and preserved by the Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank.
This program also covers the area of the Matsu Islands. The aging population has driven up the demand for medical care. As the area was once a military fort, the local customs are relatively unknown to most people. Besides, it may be difficult for family elders to help children's school work due to the lack of knowledge in certain fields. This program actively collaborates with professionals from various fields to find solutions to the abovementioned dilemmas.
The program has invited two writers, Qijiang Wang and Hung-chi Liao, to conduct in-depth studies of Matsu and depict their findings of the local culture in writings. The students in the Beigan campus in Matsu of National Taiwan Ocean University have been invited to provide tutoring for local school children. The school also actively collaborates with the National Defense Medical Center and Taipei Medical University to provide medical volunteering and conduct health care surveys of the elderly to understand changes in their medical needs.
Industry Innovation (Fishermen Issues)
Compared with workers in other industries who have benefitted from the rapid growth of the domestic economy, fishermen's income is relatively low. Badouzi has rich fishery resources and is well-known for its myopsida squids and produces fish all year round, but the income of local fishermen has not grown with the increasing reputation. The outflow of the local population also has reduced the local labor force and resulted in population aging in the local communities.
Our team has actively collaborated with Keelung District Fishermen's Association. Students and teachers from National Taiwan Ocean University used creative photography and the re-design of the store platform to incorporate the elements of creative marketing into the promotion of fish products in Keelung. The efforts enabled more people to understand the local fish products and purchase from either the local stores or Electronic business platform, adding an additional sales channel and improving income for local fishermen. The National Taiwan Ocean University USR Tourism Blog has also been established, and classes are offered to enable students to understand the landscape of marine tourism and the actual needs of the local industry, design tour itinerary, participate in internships and promote the tourism of Badouzi. The efforts are able to attract tourists and improve students' willingness to stay in the related fields.
International Networking (Experience Exchange and Learning Issues)
With respect to the field of international networking, teachers lead students to analyze policies, experience, problems, and solutions related to placemaking in Japan and offer reports on themed tour planning for the northern coast of Keelung in Taiwan based on Japan's experience with placemaking. Experts from Japan's industries, government agencies, and academia were invited to participate in teleconferencing to share their local placemaking experience and examples. Professor Naoki Shiomi from the University of Fukuchiyama, Director Yusuke Suzuki of Takahata Town Office in Yamagata, and Representative Director Mimi Koganei of Dongyousha offered their opinions and experience on lives incorporating half farming and half other routines and placemaking. It is hoped that more students will come forward with contributions to their hometowns. The program will guide students to develop more awareness of placemaking and cultivate more talents to stay in the related fields and contribute to the local communities.