Hsinchu County’s tourism is no longer just about beautiful mountains and rivers. The "Hsinchu County Coastal Scenic Area" will celebrate its approval anniversary in October this year. In addition, in early May, the "Three Gods Combined Sea and Land Patrol" of Xinfengchifu Wangye Temple, Taoyuan Xinwu Tianhou Temple, and Miaoli Baishatun Mazu brought the tourism of Mad Mazu to the west coast of Hsinchu County in March. This has made the county government also set sail on the sea and develop the "blue ocean economy" of Hsinchu County.
In this way, Xinfeng Potou Fishing Port has become the "Pearl of the Northwest" in Hsinchu County. It is not only the starting point for the blessings of the Sanshen Hejing Coast Guard, but also the Potou Shihu Coast on the north side. There are Shuangxin Bicycle Road running through it. In order to polish this pearl, the County Agricultural Department will start the extension project of its north and south embankments in the second half of this year and plan regular silt dredging operations in the port.
The total project cost of the seawall extension, including construction supervision, is approximately more than 310 million yuan, and the planned construction period is as long as 810 working days. Upon completion, the catch of Potou Fishing Port will increase from the current 246 tons per year to more than 500 tons, and the maintenance and management cost of the fishing port will be reduced from 3 million yuan per year to 2.2 million yuan. But the greatest good news for fishermen is that after completion, the annual number of days available for Potou Fishing Port will increase from 238 days to more than 300 days. The number of days fishermen can go to sea to make a living has increased, which also means that the possibility of local diversified development has increased.
As a Category 2 fishing port, Potou Fishing Port has less than 33 hectares of water and land hinterland. It has serious drifting sand and too much marine debris. This can be seen from the fact that the port area is dominated by the temporary silt storage area after sea waste and dredging. On the contrary, the net repair yard and fishing gear warehouse needed by fishermen are old and have not been updated. There is also a lack of permanent management units, etc., which indirectly leads to inconvenience in the sale of catches.
In addition, the length of the north and south embankments of the fishing port is insufficient, and westward waves can easily hit the port. Fishermen's headings are often at right angles to the direction of the waves, which increases the risk of entry and exit. The waters in the berthing area are difficult to stabilize and are heavily silted, resulting in insufficient water depth. Vessels must wait for the tide to enter and exit, which also increases the loss of vessels.
In recent years, the County Agricultural Department has outsourced research and finally found a solution. Therefore, this year it launched a routine dredging plan. It also sought and received support from the central government in the second half of the year and contracted construction to lengthen the south and north embankments by 25 meters and 175 meters respectively to protect the fishing port.
In particular, the North Embankment will be extended in three sections, first to the west, then turning 65 degrees, then heading southwest, and then turning 15 degrees southwest to continue extending and lengthening. This will block most of the energy from the northeast monsoon waves entering the harbor, allowing fishermen to safely enter and exit even if they encounter small and medium-sized wind waves in the future, and reduce the risk of typhoon disasters.
Fu Qiyang, director of the county agriculture department, said that in the third step, they plan to build new multi-functional venues in the port area including: administrative offices, fish direct sales center, temporary marine waste storage and environmental education and cultural creative area, net repair farm, fishing gear warehouse, fishing raft construction area, fish unloading area, parking lot and other multi-functional venues. Based on the current annual catch sales of Potou Fishing Port of 18 million and the number of tourists of 20,000, it is estimated that after the completion of the above three projects, it is expected to set a new high of attracting 50,000 visitors to Potou in one year, and at the same time create a catch sales of 54 million in one year.
