ABSTRACT
This chapter not only illustrates the third important thesis of the theory of territorial political economy (that is, the social construction of nature could influence the material organisation of society and in turn, affect the conditions of nature) but also reveals the construction of the ocean by two related, critical economic power sources for modern Taiwan: the maritime shipping and fishing industries. It is argued that the economic practices of Taiwan's maritime shipping industries demonstrate that their construction of the ocean can be classified into the Indian Ocean Model. On the contrary, the fishing industries were more complex in terms of their construction of the ocean. The construction of the ocean by the offshore aquaculture industry can be attributed to the Seldenian Variation, while the inland aquaculture construction was according to the Indian Ocean Model. The near-shore fishery had a construction following the Indian Ocean Model. This particular model could be applied to all other offshore fisheries as well. However, the international and environmental situations introduced the elements of the Seldenian and Grotian Variations into the construction of the ocean by the near-sea and deep-sea fishing industries. Effectively, the changing international and environmental circumstances were reflections of the deteriorating marine conditions caused by the uses of the fisheries.
