The peak of production was reached in 1979, when Taiwan turned out 20,000 metric tons of full-grown eels, bringing in US $ 170 million worth of foreign exchange. Later, because of repeated failure in attempts at artificial reproduction, resources in young eels became sharply limited.
六十八年到達巔峰，輸出兩萬公噸的成鰻，獲取一億七千多萬美元的外匯，為我國贏得「鰻魚輸出王國」的美譽；而且那幾年，鰻魚外銷都居輸出農產品之冠。