More than 400kg of meat allegedly harvested from whales and dolphins was intercepted by the Coast Guard Administration in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳) on Wednesday, even though hunting cetaceans has been banned for more than two decades, the Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) said yesterday.
The Forestry Bureau, which previously managed protected species before transferring responsibility to the OCA, in 1995 listed all cetaceans as protected and banned hunting and trading in the animals, the OCA said.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Yilan County Government informed the OCA that Coast Guard Administration officials in Suao had stopped a driver surnamed Lin (林), who was delivering 449.5kg of meat seemingly cut from cetaceans, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau is to perform DNA identification on the sampled meat, the OCA said.
The driver is being investigated for contravening the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), which imposes a prison term of six months to five years or a fine of between NT$300,000 and NT$1.5 million (US$9,653 and US$48,267) on those harassing, abusing, hunting, slaughtering or trading protected species or products made from them, it said.
Lin initially claimed he was delivering shark meat, which is not banned, but county agricultural officials judged from its appearance that it might have been taken from cetaceans, Coast Guard Administration Fleet Branch Seventh Corps Deputy Captain Yang Chi (楊淇) said.
The slain creatures might have been caught in the waters off Yilan and sold to people near industrial parks in Yunlin and Changhua counties, Yang said, adding that further investigation would be required.
The possible consumers are foreign workers who are said to prefer meat with a heavier flavor, while Taiwanese could also be the likely buyers, he said.
Businesspeople from central and southern Taiwan often visit Suao to collect cetacean meat, Yang said, citing information obtained from local fishers.
Consumers often order dolphin meat at restaurants by asking for “No. 12 pork,” because dolphins are “sea pigs” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and pigs are ranked 12th in the Chinese zodiac, he added.
Despite the ban on hunting protected species, there is demand, OCA Marine Conservation Division head Ko Ching-lin (柯慶麟) said.
The seized meat is being stored at a county government warehouse and it would be destroyed when the judicial investigation closes, Ko said.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
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
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 —