shi hu - stone fish weirs of the penghu archipelago, taiwan

By Daniella LoScerbo, Heather Earle, & Cynthia Neri Zayas

Ancestral Connections & Geographic Extent Temporal Extent Biophysical Manipulations Target Species Ceremony & Stewardship Current Status

In Taiwan, the shorelines of the Penghu Archipelago (90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait) are carved out with nearly 600 stone fish traps and weirs, locally known as Shi hu (Jeffery 2013; Yu et al. 2015). Although it is unclear who were the original creators of shi hu, it is thought that they may have originated from Fujian province in mainland China, potentially during the Qing dynasty (Jeffery 2013). Today shi hu are owned privately by extended families (Zayas, personal communication), while also being cared for by community-based organizations (Yu et al., 2015).

Shi hu have been in use since at least the 1500s when they were first documented by Chinese officials who observed the people of Penghu’s ‘agriculture at sea’ (Zayas 2019)

Shi hu were elaborately constructed using basalt, coral, and limestone in areas with abundant stones, large tidal ranges, strong wind waves, and vast coral reefs (Yu et al., 2015). The traps were built with two long arms (levees), one extending seaward and one landward (Zayas 2019). The length of a single weir could vary from under 100 meters to over 1 km long (Jeffery 2013). The central, heart-shaped part of the trap is built to about 2 metres high while the arms are about 1 metre high. At flood tide, the levees are submerged allowing the fish to swim over them, when the tide subsides the fish are trapped in the shi hu. Fish are then harvested by hand from within the heart-shaped collection chamber using a dip-net. This innovation was formed by observations of schooling behaviour of reef fish and a community effort to increase food security (Zayas 2019).

A wide diversity of fish and invertebrate species are found in shi hu (Yu et al., 2015) although it is unclear which species were targeted in Penghu. It is thought that the catch from shi hu depends on both the currents and the seasons (Zayas, Personal communication). Because the traps of Penghu are located in an open sea with tremendously strong current, pelagic fish could have been harvested.

The construction of a shi hu would have been a community undertaking, sometimes requiring the efforts of an entire village (Luo et al., 2015). Shi hu were considered important features of island culture and their management and maintenance was an important matter at the community level. The amount of fish caught depended on the shi hu’s position relative to the shore, technology, scale, and supernatural powers. Rituals are thought to have included the worship of shi hu as well as specific gods (Luo et al., 2015). Rights to harvest from these shared traps were inherited through male family lines (Zayas 2019).

Most shi hu in the Penghu Archipelago are no longer productive and have fallen into disrepair (Yu et al. 2015). This is due to a variety of reasons with the greatest barrier to their restoration being insufficient community resources to continue the traditional practice. Maintaining a shi hu is considered a very laborious activity that requires enormous effort and maintenance time (Zayas, personal communication).  Others have noted that due to climate change, overfishing, and emigration, shi hu are no longer a reliable way to earn a high income (Yu et al., 2015). Nonetheless, they are considered important cultural features that represent traditional fishing practices as well as the long standing relationship between people and the natural environment while catalyzing a strong community spirit (Jeffery 2013; Yu et al., 2015; Zayas 2019). 

The Jibei Village Museum in the Baisha Township of Penghu has put considerable effort into informing visitors of the history, value, management, and use of the shi hu (Jeffery 2013). The museum has worked with communities to restore 40 shi hu, providing many households with access to harvest fish from the traps once again. The museum also conducts workshops and camps educating people on the history and use of the weirs, with attendees working in groups to rebuild and experience the spiritual and community role of shi hu (Jeffery 2013; Yu et al. 2015).  Efforts such as these are continuing millennia-old practices of governance, tradition, ceremony and harvest through the act of repairing, protecting and learning from ancient walls.

References

Jeffery, B. 2013. Reviving community spirit: furthering the sustainable, historical and economic role of fish weirs and traps. Journal of Maritime Archaeology 8:29-57. 

Luo, L., X. Y. Wang, J. Liu, and H. D. Guo. 2015. Ancient stone tidal weirs in Penghu Archipelago: distribution, category, structure and function, a Google Earth and GIS approach. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XL-5/W7:311–314.

Ministry of Culture. 2016, November 10. Heritage preservationists. Jibei Stone Fish Weirs Team.

Yu, S. L., Y. C. Chu, and C. W. Tsai. 2015. Stone weirs in Penghu and adaption to tourism development. Journal of Ecology and Development 38:257–262.

Zayas, C. N. 2004. Two sides of Philippine lithic heritage. Philipinas 43:55–70.

Zayas, C. N. 2019. Stone tidal weirs rising from the ruins. Journal of Ocean and Culture 2:88–109.