The latest river-pollution survey from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) shows that pollution in rivers in the south remains more serious than that in the center and the north of the country.
The EPA on Tuesday released a survey using fish retention as an index of water quality for seven major rivers. More than 200 species of fish were exposed to pollution in the rivers, the EPA said.
The results suggested that Fengshan River (鳳山溪) in Kao-hsiung County and Yenshui River (鹽水溪) in Tainan County suffered from serious water pollution because fish species tolerating heavy water pollution, such as tilapia (吳郭魚) and the Indo-Pacific tarpon (大眼海鰱), were found to be surviving well there.
According to Wang Pih (
"Monitoring of fish retention will be used as part of a basic reference for future river-pollution treatment in Taiwan," Wang said.
The institute has collected data on the retention of different fish species since 1993 for the survey.
The survival of the fish varicorhinus barbatulus, for example, meant that the water quality of its habitat was good because this fish could only survive in clean water, the officials said. Atayal Aborigines call this fish "kole-balai," which means `real fish' in the Atayal language.
Last year, the EPA investigated fish retention in seven rivers on two occasions to determine the seriousness of water pollution across the country. Of the seven rivers, the water quality of Tachia River (大甲溪) in Taichung County was listed as the best because the diversity of fish species was greatest there.
However, the water quality of Wu Creek (烏溪) in Taichung County, Houlung Creek (後龍溪) in Miaoli County, and Lanyang River (蘭陽溪) in eastern Ilan County remain ordinary.
Environmental officials said they were concerned that foreign species might became dominant in some areas and that this phenomenon might further danger endemic fish.
The EPA urged both the Council of Agriculture and operators of pet-fish stores not to import fish from other countries.
According to the EPA, fish are visible water creatures, the survival of which is an ideal index of the quality of river water.
In the UK, the return of salmon to the Thames was seen as a sign of successful river-pollution treatment.
In the US, a water-quality monitoring project in the Cuyahoga River also uses the survival of certain fish as an indicator.
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