Distinguished marine ecologist Jeng Ming-shiou (
Jeng made the remarks at a press conference in Taipei yesterday held to celebrate his receiving this year's Biwako Prize, Japan's prestigious ecology award, for his extraordinary research into crustaceans and their habitats and his contribution to marine ecological protection.
Jeng told the press conference yesterday that big fish like giant manta rays and two-meter long parrot fish are "star creatures" that pull in big eco-tourism bucks, but they have been killed off around Taiwan by habitat destruction and overfishing.
"Many older fishermen have told me that they've seen creatures like these in our coastal waters but they are not found any more," he said
Jeng has called for 20 percent of Taiwan's 1,200km coastline to be protected and for the swift passage of draft laws regulating the coastline that come before the Legislative Yuan next week.
Jeng, of the Research Center for Biodiversity at Academia Sinica, is best known for his work uncovering the secret life of hydrothermal vent crabs that live off Ilan's Kuei-San Island, published in the journal Nature.
At a marine biology conference held last year on Green Island, Jeng issued a challenge; he promised NT$10,000 to anyone who could take a picture of a coral fish longer than 50cm while diving off Green Island.
Nobody was able to do so during the duration of the conference.
Meanwhile, seafood restaurants at the diving mecca were openly selling freshly caught coral-reef fish.
"They'd say to their customers, you'd better try this fish, experts say they are disappearing so it may be your last chance to eat it," Jeng said.
"You can only eat a fish once," he said, "but a living fish is an asset that will keep tourists coming back year after year."
Jeng said he felt the need to speak in terms of eco-tourist dollars because incentives matter.
"It doesn't make sense that Taiwanese go to Australia and Indonesia, spending tens of thousands of dollars on each trip, when we could be attracting tourists from all over the world to come to Taiwan."
"It's not too late," Jeng said, who said he believed the big fish would return to Taiwan's waters with proper conservation measures, bringing tourists with them.
However, some changes are irreversible.
Jeng mentioned that he recently documented the demise of a coral reef twice the size of the city of Taipei in Dongsha (東沙) caused by warmer ocean temperatures. The wetland in Shalun (
"The ironic thing is, nobody wanted to live there," Jeng said. "The development was a big flop."
Additional reporting by CNA
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