技術與環境的纏繞──「諧調」沿海養殖漁業的生計、用水與自然

The Entanglement of Technology and Environment: ''Tuning'' Livelihoods, Water Use and Nature in Coastal Aquaculture

臺灣雖然號稱養殖漁業的「王國」，但是養殖技術的發展卻也伴隨著衰退的環境，技術與環境之間是否存在對立的必然性？本文以養殖技術高度發展同時又遭遇地層下陷、水患與病毒擴散的佳冬沿海養殖區為例回應這個問題。本文先以行動者－網絡理論的「交引纏繞」（entanglement）概念重新理解佳冬沿海區域從農漁混雜的漁村逐漸轉變為專業養殖區的歷史。沿海的自然環境經過「社會轉換」為支持繁殖與養殖技術研發與實作的場所，技術的創新反過來推動了養殖群體的分工與分化。然而，「交引纏繞」的侷限在於，社會與自然之間的屬性交換（exchange of properties）幾乎無異於技術逐漸脫離環境限制的過程。研究案例卻顯示，養殖群體不斷遭遇來自技術、非人物種以及環境的挑戰，因而技術失效、生計受阻。因此，本文引入「抵抗與適應辯證」（dialectics of resistance and accommodation）以理解社會、技術與自然之間的相互作用，並指出「諧調」（tuning）以達成彼此兼容共存的可能性。因此，本文主張，技術與環境之間並不存在對立的必然性，因為並非僅有克服環境的自然極限才稱得上技術，承認與包容自然環境與社會限制的「諧調」技術可能是更好的一種。藉著本文的經驗案例，這篇研究回應了商品化（commodification）取徑養殖漁業研究的技術意含；補充了技術「內在整體性」的社會意涵；並指出了量產模式養殖漁業主動適應環境的可能性。

While Taiwan considers itself as the‘kingdom of aquaculture’, the development and innovation of aquaculture has also been accompanied by environmental degradation. Is there a necessary opposition between technology and the environment? The present study addresses this question by examining the case of the aquaculture district in the Jiadong coastal region where aquaculture has thrived but suffers from land subsidence, flooding and viral outbreaks in aquaculture. By reference to the concept of‘entanglement’derived from actor-network theory, this study traces the history of the costal Jiadong transformed from a mixed land-farming and fishing area into a specialized aquaculture district. The natural environment has undergone a‘social transformation’to become a place suitable for innovations and practices of fish breeding and farming. Technical innovations in breeding and farming have, in turn, driven the division and diversification of fish farmers. However, the limitation of the entanglement concept lies in the fact that the end result of the exchange of properties tends to prioritize the dominance of the social over the natural, which is almost indistinguishable from the gradual detachment of technology from environmental constraints. Nevertheless, the case study reveals that fish farmers have consistently encountered challenges that disrupt their livelihoods. In light of these findings, this study draws upon‘the dialectics of resistance and accommodation’to comprehend the reciprocal interaction among the social, technical and natural domains, and shows the possibility of their coexistence in the practice of aquaculture through‘tuning’. Therefore, what is argued here is that there is no necessary opposition between technology and the environment. Technical advancement is not only characterized by overcoming natural limits but also by tuning in with social constraints so as to acknowledge and accommodate them. Through the empirical case, this study reflects upon the meaning of aquaculture technology taken in the commodification approach, complements the social dimension implicated in the concept of‘inherent totality’within farming techniques, and highlights the potential of the mode of mass production in aquaculture to actively accommodate the environment in practice.