The Council of Agriculture (COA) decided yesterday to investigate possible melamine contamination in the aquaculture industry, after a fake protein additive was found in a brand of locally produced fish food.
Fisheries Agency Director General James Sha (沙志一) said his agency would identify all the fish farms that have used the contaminated food in the next few days and then test their fish for melamine residue.
The contaminated fish food made by a Pingtung County-based manufacturer was made for feeding groupers, milkfish and Japanese seaperches.
The agency uncovered the problem during its latest regular inspection of fish food. Melamine, which had not been a target in tests, was included after the chemical was found in squid viscera meal from South Korea intended as a fish food ingredient last week.
Sha said a preliminary investigation linked the contamination in Taiwan to South Korea.
Sha said the contaminated fish food was processed from a batch of squid meal that had been imported from South Korea last month.
Of the 36,000kg of squid meal imported by the Taiwanese manufacturer, 30,750kg were used to produce a total of 200,000kg of fish food and more than 170,000kg of the fishmeal had been sold to local fish farms.
The agency seized the manufacturer’s inventory of contaminated feed and has ordered a recall of the sold products.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
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