Marine conservationists on Monday called for the establishment of a “ministry of ocean management” to protect fishery resources which they said are on the brink of depletion, ahead of World Ocean Day today.
A coalition of environmental groups called for a specific authority to manage fishing activities and marine conservation amid a series of pollution and poaching incidents.
Marine conservation organization Oceanus Honors Gaia chief executive Lin Ai-lung (林愛龍) said that because of the lack of leadership in marine affairs, the nation has seen an increase in environmental incidents and illegal fishing activities, including two oil spills caused by grounded ships off New Taipei City and Penghu County, a “yellow card” given by the EU over Taiwan’s failure to enforce fishing laws, as well as poaching of marine animals by Taiwanese and Chinese alike.
“Taiwan’s marine conservation is a headless system, because the conservation and management responsibility is distributed across 22 government units. For example, the Environmental Protection Administration does not have a vessel to deal with ocean pollution, while the Coast Guard Administration, which has specialized ships, is not responsible for handling pollution,” Lin said.
While coral and threatened marine species have been illegally harvested in great quantities, none of the government agencies have placed marine conservation at the center of their operations, so the establishment of a “ministry of ocean management” is necessary, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said.
A ban on destructive fishing methods was also called for to curb overfishing.
Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation office manager Lai Wei-jen (賴威任) said an estimated 2,000 to 10,000 dolphins and whales die every year as a result of being caught in fishing gear and nets, while fish cannot be found at some healthy coral reefs due to overfishing.
Scientific studies have estimated that there will be no wild fish left by 2048 if global fishing trends continue at the current pace, Academia Sinica ichthyologist Shao Kwang-tsao (邵廣昭) said.
“Taiwan’s total fish catch has diminished from 1.35 million tonnes in 1990 to 1.1 million tonnes today. The difference may appear slight, but fishermen have to spend more effort to catch fish, while the government has to spend more to subsidize the fishing industry. Fish caught today are also smaller, and many are coarse fish that are not good for consumption and have little economic value,” Shao said.
“Ocean sunfish is internationally identified as a threatened species, but one can find them in seafood restaurants in Taiwan. That says much about the nation’s conservation,” Shao said.
Establishing a sustainable fishing industry and consumer culture is necessary in addition to a competent authority over marine management, he said.
The groups launched an online signature campaign calling for the establishment of a “ministry of ocean management,” and they have collected more than 2,000 signatures in a week, they said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper