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Research in the Pratas promoted

The image of a roughly 200m-long merchant ship, whose design was common a century ago, was first taken by scientists two years ago in waters around Dongsha Island. It could possibly belong to one of then active European trading powers, such as Spain, France, Britain or the Netherlands. COURTESY OF KAOHSIUNG CITY MARINE BUREAU/COLLEGE OF MARINE SCIEN

The official launch of an international marine research station on the Pratas Islands, known locally as the Dongsha Islands (東沙島), a disputed group in the South China Sea, has initiated a process of internationalizing related oceanic issues ranging from scientific research to ecotourism promotion.

At a round-table meeting convened by the Marine Resources Conservation Working Group under the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization last Friday, Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) stressed that the Kaohsiung City Government would do its best to ensure the sustainability of the area, which administratively belongs to the city.

"The establishment of an international scientific research station there will facilitate future international scientific collaboration, further ensuring both cultural and ecological conservation," Hsieh said.

Hsieh said that ecological catastrophes had been observed because of past inappropriate activities involving fishermen from neighboring countries. Therefore the city government is upgrading existing facilities at a service station for Taiwanese fishermen in a bid to provide more assistance to scientists interested in carrying out research there.

"We aim to explore many interesting fields, including the conservation of coral reefs, the underwater cultural heritage involving sunken boats and ecotourism," Hsieh said.

The Dongsha Islands comprise Dongsha Island and two coral reefs, the North Vereker Bank (北衛灘) and the South Vereker Bank (南衛灘). The archipelago is located in a strategically important position along the major sea route connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans. Since the end of World War II, it has been administrated by Taiwan. Prior to that, Japan guarded the area for more than three decades.

Since 1994, a group of 57 Taiwanese scientists and researchers have launched a series of scientific researches in the waters of the Dongsha Islands. According to Jeng Ming-shiou (鄭明修), a marine biologist from the Academia Sinica's Institute of Zoology, abnormal climate effects caused by El Nino in 1998 caused coral bleaching in about 300km2 of ocean.

Since then, Taiwanese scientists have recorded the reappearance of coral.

So far, more than 120 kinds of coral reef have been observed and the coverage rate has increased to about 5 percent, Jeng said.

"We've recorded more than 300 kinds of fish but believe that there are more than 1,000," Jeng told the Taipei Times.

In 1999, administration of Dongsha was official shifted to the Kaohsiung City Government, which, since then, has been actively promoting scientific research and ecotourism of the islands, which are about 440km southwest of Kaohsiung.

Two years ago, scientific research led by the Kaohsiung-based National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU), first took an image of a mysterious sunken merchantman at a depth between 50m and 70m near Dongsha Island. Project investigator Chen Yang-Yih (陳陽益), who is also dean of NSYSU's College of Marine Sciences, told the Taipei Times that the 200m-long cargo ship was of design common a century ago, and could possibly have belonged to one of the active European trading powers of the time, such as Spain, France, Britain, or the Netherlands.

Chen said available documents suggest that some 30 ships of a similar size went missing in the area of the Dongsha Islands.

"We hope to further study not only the sunken boat but also related history about the exploration of marine resources," Chen said.

Scientists believe that research in the area might reveal hitherto unknown details about the history of human migration around the Asia-Pacific region.

Chen said that underwater archeology-related topics near the Dongsha Islands have interested scientists from not only neighboring countries, such as Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, but also from Australia, the UK, and the US.

Chen said future possible scientific collaborative projects with other countries on marine science issues would be discussed at a four-day workshop for marine scientists, the Second International Workshop on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, which begins today in Kaohsiung.

Stressing that the responsibility of protecting and preserving the underwater cultural heritage rests with all countries, Chen said the workshop aims to provide a forum for sharing information and experience about the development of underwater archaeology in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the coastal waters of Taiwan as well as the Dongshas.

"We hope to gain more support from some governmental agencies in charge of cultural conservation, such as the Cabinet's Council of Cultural Affairs," Chiau Wen-yan (邱文彥), an associate professor of marine environment and engineering at NSYSU, said.

Chiau said that the 2001 UN Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage stresses the underwater cultural heritage is an integral part of the cultural heritage of humanity and a particularly important element in the history of peoples, countries, and their relations with each other concerning their common heritage.

The Ministry of the Interior plans to turn the waters near the Dongsha Islands into an oceanic national park. Scientists said that a comprehensive ecological survey would be essential because, so far, people remain ignorant of the abundant natural resources in the area.
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