Taiwan will ban fishing of whale sharks, the largest living fish species, starting next year, the Fisheries Administration under the Council of Agriculture (COA) announced on Friday.
Fisheries Administration Director Hsieh Ta-wen (謝大文) said the year's quota of 30 whale sharks was reached on March 27 and that no more fishing would be allowed from March 27 until December 31.
Any stockpiled whale shark meat must be sold within three months, meaning that from June 27, no more selling of whale shark meat will be allowed.
Starting from next year, the fishing, selling, importing and exporting of whale sharks will be banned completely, he said.
The whale shark, the gentle giant of the ocean, is found in tropical oceans and lives in the open sea. The species is called the "tofu shark" locally because its delicate meat is purported to taste like tofu.
The shark, believed to have originated about 60 million years ago, can grow up to 20m in length and can weigh up to 30 tonnes. It is considered a delicacy in many Southeast Asian countries.
Hsieh said 12 out of this year's 30 whale sharks were caught in fixed nets and were released. The Fisheries Administration has also presented NT$3.47 million (US$104,000) in cash to fishermen for their cooperation in releasing the fish.
The released sharks were fitted with satellite tracking devices to help monitor their migration routes and provide more information about their ecology.
If more whale sharks are accidentally trapped in the fixed nets, Hsieh instructed fishermen to report the catch immediately and apply for a cash reward for not killing them. Such sharks will also be fitted with satellite tracking devices.
Fisheries officials also noted that two whale sharks accidentally caught off Hualien will be sent to an aquarium in the state of Georgia in the US early next month for educational, research and display purposes.
The aquarium purchased two whale sharks from Taiwan in 2005 and last year, but one of them died earlier this year of peritonitis.
Meanwhile, fishermen in three counties who mainly fish for whale sharks were disgruntled about the government ban, disputing expert opinion that the great fish is on the brink of extinction and complaining that a complete ban would jeopardize their livelihoods.
They said that the annual quota has continued to dwindle from 80 in the past to 60 last year and 30 this year in the face of global outrage over the continuing fishing of the endangered species.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
MORE WARNINGS: If the US company does not clarify and solve issues with its frozen berries, the FDA might extend an import suspension implemented last month, it said The Kaohsiung Department of Health yesterday said it fined Costco NT$4.5 million (US$146,265) over contaminated frozen strawberries, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that although the US company had filed an improvement plan, an import suspension on frozen berries could remain. Three types of frozen berry products imported and sold by Costco have tested positive for the hepatitis A virus since April. The Kaohsiung health department previously fined Costco NT$300,000 for not providing the sales list of a contaminated batch of Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend imported from Chile, in contravention of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法). It later
‘NEGLIGENCE’: After reporting the incident, her superior allegedly asked her why she did not scream, which was an inappropriate attempt to ignore the allegations, critics said An accusation of sexual harassment led to the resignation of a top Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official, while President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has called for a thorough investigation into the incident involving a contractor. Vice President and DPP Chairman William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he approved the resignation of DPP deputy secretary-general Hsu Chia-tien (許嘉恬), who headed the party’s Women’s Development Department when the alleged incident happened in September last year. “Gender equality is among our party’s core values, that we have strived for and advanced along with Taiwanese society,” Lai said. “The DPP did not handle it appropriately at the time,
RSS