The Executive Yuan yesterday approved an ocean conservation bill that would empower regulators to designate maritime sanctuaries and establish sustainable use rules, the Ocean Affairs Council said.
The draft legislation is to go to the legislature for deliberation.
The bill says that regulatory authorities would be authorized to create maritime sanctuaries consisting of core, buffer and sustainable-use zones, subject to various levels of protection.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
The core zone of a maritime sanctuary — the highest level of protection possible — would be closed to all maritime activity other than speedy passage or for activities deemed necessary to national security or science.
Aquafarming, construction, laying sea cables, mining and other economic activities in buffer zones and sustainable use zones may be permitted with central and local regulatory approval.
The central government may designate a maritime sanctuary with the approval of an evaluation committee consisting of officials, experts and representatives of civil associations, while no more than half of the committee’s members can be government officials, the bill says.
Entering a core zone without permission would carry a fine of up to NT$500,000 (US$15,911), entering a buffer zone without permission would carry a penalty of up to NT$300,000 and entering a sustainable-use zone without permission would carry a fine of NT$15,000.
The bill is expected to pass the Legislative Yuan, as the council conducted extensive consultations with experts, environmental groups and government agencies to inform its writing, council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference.
The legislation, if passed, would give regulators a mandate to designate sanctuaries, restrict maritime activities, conduct scientific research and set ocean conservation policies, in addition to boosting protections for whistle-blowers and the public’s right to sue polluters, Kuan said.
Also yesterday, the Executive Yuan approved amendments to the Distant Waters Fisheries Act (遠洋漁業條例) in a bid to stop imports of catches and seafood products from illegal, underreported and underregulated (IUU) fishing.
The proposed changes would empower regulators to impose a partial or total ban on seafood imports from nations or regions that engage in IUU fishing, Ministry of Agriculture officials told the news conference.
Importers that contravene the ban would face a fine of NT$6 million to NT$30 million, which is the same as the penalty for domestic IUU fishers, the officials said.
Taiwan is committed to fighting IUU fishing and upholding sustainable use of the sea in partnership with the international community, they said, adding that the amendments would help law-abiding fishers and importers.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
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
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS