The Fishery Resources Institute said that it would propose rules to protect white-spotted guitarfish after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the species as critically endangered.
The fish, also known as white-spotted wedgefish or bottlenose wedgefish, is often mistaken for a shark by local fishers, but is actually a type of cartilaginous fish of the Rhinidae family.
As the number of white-spotted guitarfish has dwindled in recent years due to overfishing and shrinking habitats, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 2019 listed the species on the trade control list, with countries exporting them required to provide government documents saying that this practice would not harm the species.
Photo courtesy of the Fishery Resources Institute
Despite being listed as a critically endangered species by the IUCN, the government lacked statistics on the changes in population of white-spotted wedgefish around the country.
The institute, which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, was tasked by the Ocean Affairs Council last year to use tagging and release methods to study the migration and changes in natural habitats of the species, it said.
Since June, a total of four white-spotted guitarfish have been tagged, with two released off the coast of Penghu County and two off the shore of Yunlin County, said Hsu Hua-hsun (徐華遜), a research assistant in the institute’s Coastal and Offshore Fishery Research Center.
More white-spotted guitarfish would be tagged for the study, he said, adding that the first set of migration data would become available in November.
Another part of the study was to verify the fish catch reports filed by fishers upon their return to harbor, he said.
“White-spotted guitarfish are often categorized as sharks because they are often caught along with other fish or are often mistaken as sharks. We need to verify those reports. Once we have both sets of data, we would come up with our preliminary proposal on how to protect the fish,” Hsu said.
There are still challenges in limiting the sales of the protected species, he said.
The dorsal and tail fins of white-spotted guitarfish can be used to make fin soups, while the meat can be used to make fillet, fish paste, fish balls and Japanese tempura, he said.
The cost of a white-spotted guitarfish in Penghu, Yunlin and Chiayi counties varies from NT$100 to NT$200 per kilogram, he said, adding that some had been exported to China in the past.
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