The fight to protect dwindling and fragile coral reefs suffered a setback after the Council of Agriculture (COA) granted dozens of coral-mining licenses in April, reversing the gradual reduction of licensed coral boats.
The COA granted licenses to 96 boats that had been illegally collecting red coral at a meeting in early April, amending a 1989 regulation prohibiting new licenses.
The regulation stipulated that the government should not issue new licenses allowing companies to tear corals from reefs for the jewelry industry or as souvenirs for tourists.
Although the regulation allowed already licensed companies to renew their permits, the rule led to a steady drop in the number of licensed coral-mining boats. Earlier this year only three licensed boats remain.
A study conducted by local governments found, however, that 96 fishing boats were illegally collecting red coral.
The council amended the regulation in April, saying it was protecting the livelihood of the boat operators. The new regulation allowed all boats with coral-mining equipment identified by the end of last year to attain licenses.
The regulation, which came into effect on May 24, allows coral mining in five areas at least 12 nautical miles (22.2km) away from shore, with a total surface of 7,811km². The designated areas are off the northeast coast and south and southwest coasts.
Each boat is allowed to collect 120kg of coral per year.
The red coral used in jewelry is found in relatively deep water and grows at a rate of about 1mm per year. Coral miners use aggressive equipment that damages the seabed, destroying the environment that supports a complex ecosystem.
“The special tackle used to mine deep water corals can seriously damage the seabed,” said Jan Rong-quen (詹榮桂), research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Center and president of the Taiwan Coral Reefs Society.
COA Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) said on Thursday the council could not revoke the licenses, but insisted it could prevent severe damage to coral reefs through regulation.
Hu said the Fishery Agency would ask marine life experts to monitor the effects on sea resources. Licensed boats that violate regulations will also lose their license for one year, Fishery Agency Director Hsieh Da-wen (謝大文) said.
Coral reefs can be found off the Hengchun Peninsula, the northeastern coast and Penghu, Green Island and Lanyu (蘭嶼). In addition to mining, coral is threatened by global warming, artificial fish reefs and industrial pollution.
Jan said on Friday that data about the abundance of coral living deeper than 100m is difficult to obtain.
“We cannot know how many coral reefs still exist in deep water,” Jan said.
The Reef Check Foundation, an international non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring reefs, had declared this year international coral reef year.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS