The digestive tracts of most fish found in the waters around Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) contain plastic waste, a study has shown.
National Donghwa University marine biology professor Chen Te-hao (陳德豪) said that about 95 percent of fish in a study conducted around 117 coral formations near the township contained microplastic — plastic fragments 5mm in size or smaller.
There is an urgent need for the reduced use of plastics, Chen said, adding that the public is advised against eating fish offal.
In the study, all fish were found to have no fewer than five pieces of microplastic in their systems, with the bodies of larger mahi-mahi (also known as the common dolphinfish) containing as many as 32 pieces of plastic waste.
What concerned Chen most about the results was that even fish that normally live at depths of between 180m and 640m below the ocean’s surface were shown to have consumed plastic.
The study also looked at 21 turtles of different species, including green sea turtles, olive ridley sea turtles and hawksbill sea turtles, between December 2017 and November last year, and found that nearly all of them had consumed plastic, Chen said, adding that his research team is now looking at oysters.
Despite the discovery that plastic waste consumption among marine life is more pervasive than previously thought, the plastic is unlikely to pass through the food chain to humans unless people consume fish offal, Chen said.
Even if the plastic does not enter the human food chain, its impact on marine life is apparent, he said, adding that some get entangled in larger pieces of plastic, sometimes fatally.
“There are people recycling plastic and organizing beach cleanups nationwide, but this is a reactive response. We need to go to the source of the problem — to urgently reduce, even eliminate, the use of plastic,” he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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