The Dongsha (
During recent decades, most notably the past five years, the Dongsha islands' marine habitat has been depleted and is now endangered. Human activities and global warming are largely responsible. The latest field survey showed that most of the islands' coral-reef communities had been wiped out. And fish communities were destroyed by destructive practices such as overfishing, dynamite fishing, cyanide fishing and the discharging of batteries.
Fortunately, on Tuesday, the Bureau of Construction of the Kaohsiung City Government held a conference entitled "Designating the Dongsha islands as a no-fishing zone." At the conference the bureau moved to: designate the Dongsha islands as a no-fishing zone under the Fisheries Act; set the range of the no-fishing zone 22km beyond territorial seas; have the Kaohsiung City Government act as the administrative authority to designate and proclaim the Dongsha islands a no-fishing zone; and have the Coast Guard Administration implement enforcement via the Fisheries Act.
These agreements could lead to the Kaohsiung City Government setting marine policies for further conservation. It might be the first signs of conservation for the Dongsha islands.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, a no-fishing zone is an area closed to all fishing activities on a permanent basis, regardless of whether other activities (extractive or non-extractive) are allowed. In the other words, a no-fishing zone is a kind of Marine Protected Area designed to safeguard biota and habitat by law or other effective approaches, such as local communities cooperating with local government.
However, there are several fundamental issues that should be considered for further planning and management. First, the boundaries of the Dongsha no-fishing zone should include two coral reefs, Bei-Wei Tan and Nan-Wei Tan, northwest of Dongsha Atoll.
Second, the boundaries of the no-fishing zone are so large that effective enforcement should concentrate on core zones, or hot spots, which have high biodiversity or concentrations of marine resources. Zoning should be planned through scientific surveys and research.
Third, while penalties may be directed at Taiwanese, coast guard information indicates that most illegal fishing boats come from China. Cross-strait and regional cooperation and negotiation will be needed to implement conservation and enforcement.
Finally, regular monitoring and evaluation would be needed to ensure the measures go beyond mere words.
Existing laws, such as the Fisheries Act, the Wildlife Conservation Act and the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, are a way to establish Marine Protected Areas or no-fishing zones for areas in urgent need. However, if we are to meet long-term goals, we need to establish a national network of Marine Protected Areas and promote public education about the need for conservation.
Lin Yu-yang is a graduate student at the Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University.
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