Environmentalists were angered to discover that Styrofoam allegedly used by local oyster farmers was scattered along the coast of Sihkunshen (四鯤鯓) in Tainan’s South District (南區).
The group accused a local fishermen’s association of neglecting its responsibility to clean up the mess, while calling on the Tainan City Government to ban the use of Styrofoam.
Environmental campaigner Chao Jui-guang, (晁瑞光), a Tainan resident, said he found out about the Styrofoam yesterday morning.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
He said that local oyster farms should have gathered up most of the Styrofoam washed ashore, but a beach-cleaning activity undertaken by a community college almost two weeks ago picked up about 200 chunks of Styrofoam, which oyster farmers use in their work.
Chao said the fishermen’s association had “slacked off” in their work to remove the trash, adding that the situation this month is worse than in previous years.
Chao said that Styrofoam was strewn along the coast from Sihkunshen to the mouth of the Tsengwen River (曾文溪), a distance of more than 20km.
He said that Japanese research in 2012 showed that Styrofoam releases toxic chemicals, while a South Korean study published last year indicated that using Styrofoam to farm oysters poses a risk to nearby fish farming.
The city government should prohibit the use of the material and encourage the use of polyethylene, Chao said, adding that oyster farmers should use the more eco-friendly polyethylene foam — which is similar to the material used to make surfboards and does not easily dissolve in seawater.
City officials and fishermen’s association representatives held a meeting yesterday, agreeing that the Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau would gather the Styrofoam to three locations designated by the association, after which the association would clear away the trash and the bureau would send beach-cleaning vehicles to finish the job.
Chao lambasted the agreement, saying that the association should clean up the mess rather than shifting the responsibility to city officials and exploiting public resources.
“The Environmental Protection Bureau should be in charge of fining polluters, not picking up their trash,” he said.
Tainan Fishing Ports and Coastal Waters Management Office official Wu Kuo-lin (吳國霖) said that the Styrofoam was carried ashore by waves propelled by a southwesterly air stream.
Wu said that no penalties were imposed because the problem was the aftermath of a “natural event” and that the mess was accidental.
Some of the Styrofoam found in Sihkunshen showed little signs of wear, Wu said, adding that waste Styrofoam from oyster farms would not be in such good condition.
To curb pollution, the office pays fish farmers NT$30 for each piece of Styrofoam they recycle, which on average measures 90cm by 45cm by 30cm, Wu said.
He said that the fishermen’s association has more equipment for waste removal than the city government, but is short on staff, which led to the arrangements made between the two groups.
The office would work to improve the distribution of labor, Wu said.
Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau official Chu Hung-che (朱宏哲) said that the bureau had dispatched employees to collect the Styrofoam, adding that the operation could take several days given the wide distribution of the trash.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and