Taiwan is the world’s fourth-largest shark catcher, a report on shark conservation said yesterday.
The Future of Sharks: A Review of Action and Inaction, a report released by the wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC and the Pew Environment Group and scheduled to be reviewed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Committee on Fisheries next week, identifies the top 20 shark-catching countries and other entities and assesses their management of conservation measures agreed upon in 2001.
The analysis shows that the top 20 countries account for about 80 percent of total reported shark catches, or about 640,000 tonnes, with Indonesia, India, Spain and Taiwan accounting for 13 percent, 9 percent, 7.3 percent and 5.8 percent respectively.
“The future of many shark populations is essentially in the hands of the top 20,” the two organizations said, adding that the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks “has yet to be fully implemented” since it was adopted by the FAO a decade ago.
About 30 percent of all shark species are threatened or near threatened with extinction as a result of unregulated fishing, much of it to meet the high demand for fins used as an ingredient in shark fin soup, a popular dish in East Asian countries, the report said.
The two organizations said the committee, which will hold a meeting from Monday to Friday in Rome to examine the effectiveness of the internal plan of action, prioritized its review on top catchers — including Indonesia, India, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan and Malaysia — with little or no management of shark fisheries.
Most of the top 20 shark catchers “have failed to demonstrate what, if anything, they are doing to save these imperiled species,” the organizations said.
In Taipei, Fisheries Agency Director Sha Chih-yi (沙志一) yesterday said Taiwan had enforced conservation measures adopted by regional fisheries management organizations since its National Plan of Action was put into effect in 2006 and was considering doing more to protect other endangered marine species.
The regulations imposed by the agency on Taiwanese vessels include requiring vessels to transship and offload fins and carcasses together and ensuring that the fin to whole-body weight is less than 5 percent, Sha said.
Taiwanese vessels are also required to report the weight of shark bodies and fins on board when entering and leaving ports, as well as the weight of shark fins and carcasses offloaded while in port, he said.
Saying the regulations met the requirements on shark conservation and management measures of regional fisheries management organizations, Sha said the government would nevertheless enhance its inspection procedures to crack down on illegal fishing.
Sha said Taiwan was also considering imposing a ban on imports of fins and shark products from countries that are not participants in the international conservation and management plan to help end illegal fishing of endangered sharks.
Taiwan will also take part in the committee meeting next week in its capacity as a member of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue