The number of endangered Formosan Landlocked Salmon (
Before the typhoon season this year, about 3,200 of the fish were counted in a survey of Chichiawan Stream (七家灣溪) near Wuling Farm (武陵農場) in Taichung County. However, abnormally heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Mindulle in early July and Typhoon Aere in late August have put the species in danger.
Tzeng Chyng-shyang (
With the rise of conservation advocacy in Taiwan, efforts to revive the population of the endangered fish culminated in 2002, when the number of fish exceeded 4,000. However, the count declined to about 3,180 last year because of habitat damage from typhoons in 2002.
Tzeng has researched the relation between the fish population and natural disasters, and stressed that floods have been identified as one of the major factors. Tzeng presented the information at a conference on ecological conservation and natural disasters held yesterday by the Kingcar Education Foundation and National Taiwan Normal University.
Tzeng said his team found the situation this year following the typhoons to be quite similar to the aftermath of the devastating Typhoon Herb in 1996.
That autumn, there were about 1,245 survivors.
"It means that when floods come, natural refuges available to the fish in these habitats are limited," Tzeng said.
Tzeng said that after a flood, the carrying capacity of habitats was seriously affected because the of reduced diversity in the aquatic environment.
"Many kinds of water creatures' reproduction in the ecological system is affected. Food scarcity has led to a decline in the population of the Formosan freshwater salmon since the passage of typhoons this summer," Tzeng said.
However, Tzeng predicts that the population might increase in the following years, because members washed away were relatively small and young.
"Surviving adult salmon can still reproduce effectively, if the impact of typhoon disasters can be minimized by appropriate human efforts," Tzeng said.
Tzeng said habitat management has been improved in recent years and certain dams have been removed in order to diversify the environment.
Tzeng said the distribution of the endangered fish this fall was similar to a decade ago.
The precious salmon now mainly survive in an 8km section of Chichiawan Stream (
Lin Young-fa (
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it