A Canadian scientist dedicated to the preservation of aquatic mammals urged the Taiwan government yesterday to take immediate action to protect an isolated and endangered population of dolphins that is found only in the eastern Taiwan Strait.
Peter Ross, a marine mammal toxicologist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada, made the call at a press conference held in Taipei by Taiwanese environmental protection advocates, including Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇).
Ross is visiting Taiwan to attend this year’s two-day Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Roundtable Meeting on the Involvement of Business/Private Sector in Sustainability of the Marine Environment, which opened on Tuesday in Taipei.
Along with other international and local academics, Ross organized the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group to provide expert advice, guidance and scrutiny on conservation issues concerning Taiwan’s remaining Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, known by the scientific name of Sousa chinensis.
The dolphins, which are white in color and endemic to Taiwan, were discovered in 2002 off the west coast of the nation. Last month, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) listed the species as critically endangered after research found that the population of dolphins had dropped to less than 100.
Ross said the species might soon become extinct if it is not properly protected.
There would be no vibrant economy if the oceans are not healthy, and there would be no healthy oceans if there are no healthy dolphins, the scientist said, referring to the plight of the coastal dolphins as a signal from Heaven to the Taiwanese people.
Ross urged the Taiwanese government to list the dolphin’s habitat as a preservation zone as soon as possible and to prohibit any kind of development there.
The humpback dolphins are called “Matsu Fish” by local fishermen because they are usually seen between March and April off the western coast when the northeasterly monsoons weaken and the birthday of Matsu, the goddess of the Sea, is celebrated in Taiwan.
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
GROWING TIES: The CGA is planning a goodwill mission to the Philippines, in what would be the first time since 1975 a Taiwanese paramilitary vessel has visited the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to significantly expand its participation in international security cooperative frameworks and its operational capabilities, a budget proposal for next year showed. The budget indicates a transformation of the CGA from a maritime law enforcement arm into a national defense and intelligence gathering entity capable of tackling larger regional security matters. The proposal showed that personnel from the coast guard’s Intelligence Division and Special Action Support Center are to participate in high-level national security talks with the US. As the CGA has dealt with China’s rising “gray zone” threats around Taiwan, it has become a valuable asset to
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, a Philippine non-governmental organization said. The CGA on Sept. 16 confirmed media reports that Taiwan had donated a retired 500-tonne patrol vessel to the Philippines. The Manila-based We Protect Our Seas (WPS) foundation, which served as an intermediary in the transfer, said that the vessel was formerly the CGA’s 500-tonne petrol vessel Kinmen (CG123). The WPS, in a statement issued on Friday, said the vessel, renamed as the BRP Sarangani, had been commissioned into the PCG the
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: Beijing sent two China Coast Guard vessels to escort a ‘supposedly private research ship,’ a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman said The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday confirmed that it had recently deployed three patrol vessels to waters in Taiwan’s overlapping exclusive economic zone with the Philippines to monitor three Chinese vessels. CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said the agency regularly monitors Chinese vessels around Taiwan, and that the deployment south of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, was carried out in accordance with standard procedures. He added that the waters fall within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines, which extend 200 nautical miles (370km) from their coastlines. Hsieh made the comments when asked about a
RSS