Large numbers of dead fish have washed up on the shores of the Keelung River from Zhongshan Bridge to Dazhi Bridge, probably because of consecutive days of high temperatures, the Taipei City Government said.
The city government said it expected to finish clearing the dead fish from the river today.
The Taipei Environmental Protection Bureau said that the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water near the dead fish was 3.5 milligrams per liter, which is about four to five times lower than normal.
Photo: EPA
The water temperature was 30.3oC, far higher than the average high temperature of 28.1oC in recent years, the bureau said.
The pH of the river was 7.3 which is normal, the bureau said, adding that despite the mass fish deaths the tilapia population in the river was alive and well.
“We suspect that the cause of mass death in fish is not due to contamination, but high temperatures,” the bureau said.
The bureau said it set up netting and floating blocks near the Bailing and Zhongshan bridges to prevent the dead fish washing downriver and was working with the Water Resources Agency to remove the dead fish.
The bureau said it could not give an accurate estimate on the total number of fish killed.
The bureau said that similar incidents have occurred in Yilan County’s Dongshan River (冬山河), Taoyuan’s Laojie Creek (老街溪), the Bitan area (碧潭) in New Taipei City’s Xindian District (新店) and in Xizhi District (汐止).
Taipei Public Works Department official Yu Pai-sung (游百崧) said that the greatest concentration of dead fish was near a river junction.
The department yesterday sent out three boats to help clear the fish, and at least one returned before noon fully laden, Yu said.
The department sent out an additional two boats yesterday afternoon to expedite the operation, Yu said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS