A marine national park is set to be established in the middle of one of Taiwan’s largest fishing grounds despite opposition from fishermen who depend on the area for their livelihood, an official said yesterday.
The planned national park will cover three island chains and surrounding waters off the north coast, measuring about 750km².
“An evaluation of the new marine national park has begun,” Hsu Shao-liang (徐韶良) of the Marine National Park Headquarters said.
The outlook for the project, which will become Taiwan’s second marine national park, is bright as the initial response from the public has been positive, he said.
“There’s been some noise, of course. Some fishermen who wish to catch fish in the area have opposed the project, fearing that their livelihoods would be negatively impacted,” he said.
“But others favored the project from a fisheries resources protection perspective,” he said, referring to the depletion of fisheries resources by the frequent incursions of Chinese fishermen.
The coast guard drove away 1,048 Chinese fishing boats illegally operating in the area last year, up from 797 the previous year, government figures showed.
If the new national park project is realized, fishing will be banned in a 5km zone around the three island chains — Pengchia, Mienhua and Huaping.
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