Some 350,000 baby Asian horseshoe crabs bred in captivity were released into the ocean near Kinmen yesterday in an effort to conserve the species.
Kinmen County Deputy Commissioner Yang Chung-chuan (楊忠全) led more than 200 Kinmen residents and students in the activity, which was held on the shores of Chienkung islet and the mouth of Wuchiang Creek.
The release was conducted under the supervision of officials from the Kinmen Aquaculture Research Institute (KARI), which bred the crabs.
PHOTO: CNA
KARI researchers said the horseshoe crab is nearly extinct in waters surrounding Taiwan proper but it is occasionally seen near the Penghu Island group and on the west coast of Taiwan proper.
The seas around Kinmen are among the horseshoe crab’s most important natural habitats, but even there, its numbers have declined in recent years as a result of industrial and urban development, the researchers said.
The sharp drop in the crab population prompted KARI to zone an 800-hectare coastal area near Kuningtou as Kinmen’s horseshoe crab conservation district in 1999 in the hope that its population could be preserved.
Since 2006 KARI has staged annual releases of baby horseshoe crabs to help accelerate the natural replenishment of the species, known as a “living fossil” because it has changed little in its 400 million years of existence.
Some 70,000 baby crabs were released last year.
With a distinctive domed carapace shaped like a horseshoe and a stiff pointed tail, the Asian horseshoe crab, or tachypleus tridentatus, is known as one of Taiwan’s few “living fossil” species.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
RSS