The Kenting National Park Administration Office is hunting for a diver whose alleged attempts to illegally harvest coral growing at the Hejie (合界) dive site were videotaped by a group of divers on Saturday last week.
One of the divers, who referred to himself as A-hai (阿海), said he and his friends were enjoying a dive on Saturday afternoon when they came across a lone scuba diver putting a large chunk of coral knocked off from a reef with a hammer into a bag.
A-hai said the suspect’s feet had damaged large sections of coral reefs because of “apparent poor swimming skills,” adding that the diver had reluctantly fled, leaving behind a hammer and harvested coral, after realizing that their actions had been filmed.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
“Our entry point that day was north of Hejie because it is typically less crowded,” A-hai said.
“However, before we could enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the coral reefs, we spotted the [suspected] thief, whose poor diving skills indicated he was an amateur, and decided to film his reprehensible act to draw the attention of authorities,” A-hai said.
Hejie, off the west coast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), is a popular dive spot for intermediate-level divers because of its rich diversity of marine life.
In 2011, Hejie became a hotspot for poaching clown fish for sale to aquarium owners.
Tsai Yung-chun (蔡永春), a diving coach based in Kenting, said the Hejie site is filled with a variety of coral reefs, including Acropora corals, brain corals, Leptoria phrygia and Montipora foliosa, which was the type of coral allegedly damaged by the suspect.
“I also went diving in Hejie that day, but I did not witness the theft because I chose a different entry point,” Tsai said.
“As most divers do not bring their own oxygen tanks when they go scuba diving, I plan to help the [park’s] office track down the culprit by studying the patterns printed on the oxygen tank the diver carried that day,” he said.
Ma Hsieh-chun (馬協群), director of the park’s Conservation Research Section, said his staff have been visiting dive shops in the area to find the one that rented the suspect scuba equipment.
“We will also send specialists to evaluate the damage caused to the coral reefs and try to reattach the coral fragments, but we cannot guarantee that they will be restored to their former glory,” Ma said.
Coral harvesting is considered a “directed fishery” industry in Taiwan and divers must obtain an official permit for harvesting. However, the last time the Fisheries Agency issued a permit was in 1991.
Under the Fisheries Act (漁業法), people who illegally harvest coral without a permit could face up to three years in prison, although the jail time can be commuted to a maximum fine of NT$150,000.
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