Environmentalists were angered to discover that Styrofoam allegedly used by local oyster farmers was scattered along the coast of Sihkunshen (四鯤鯓) in Tainan’s South District (南區).
The group accused a local fishermen’s association of neglecting its responsibility to clean up the mess, while calling on the Tainan City Government to ban the use of Styrofoam.
Environmental campaigner Chao Jui-guang, (晁瑞光), a Tainan resident, said he found out about the Styrofoam yesterday morning.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
He said that local oyster farms should have gathered up most of the Styrofoam washed ashore, but a beach-cleaning activity undertaken by a community college almost two weeks ago picked up about 200 chunks of Styrofoam, which oyster farmers use in their work.
Chao said the fishermen’s association had “slacked off” in their work to remove the trash, adding that the situation this month is worse than in previous years.
Chao said that Styrofoam was strewn along the coast from Sihkunshen to the mouth of the Tsengwen River (曾文溪), a distance of more than 20km.
He said that Japanese research in 2012 showed that Styrofoam releases toxic chemicals, while a South Korean study published last year indicated that using Styrofoam to farm oysters poses a risk to nearby fish farming.
The city government should prohibit the use of the material and encourage the use of polyethylene, Chao said, adding that oyster farmers should use the more eco-friendly polyethylene foam — which is similar to the material used to make surfboards and does not easily dissolve in seawater.
City officials and fishermen’s association representatives held a meeting yesterday, agreeing that the Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau would gather the Styrofoam to three locations designated by the association, after which the association would clear away the trash and the bureau would send beach-cleaning vehicles to finish the job.
Chao lambasted the agreement, saying that the association should clean up the mess rather than shifting the responsibility to city officials and exploiting public resources.
“The Environmental Protection Bureau should be in charge of fining polluters, not picking up their trash,” he said.
Tainan Fishing Ports and Coastal Waters Management Office official Wu Kuo-lin (吳國霖) said that the Styrofoam was carried ashore by waves propelled by a southwesterly air stream.
Wu said that no penalties were imposed because the problem was the aftermath of a “natural event” and that the mess was accidental.
Some of the Styrofoam found in Sihkunshen showed little signs of wear, Wu said, adding that waste Styrofoam from oyster farms would not be in such good condition.
To curb pollution, the office pays fish farmers NT$30 for each piece of Styrofoam they recycle, which on average measures 90cm by 45cm by 30cm, Wu said.
He said that the fishermen’s association has more equipment for waste removal than the city government, but is short on staff, which led to the arrangements made between the two groups.
The office would work to improve the distribution of labor, Wu said.
Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau official Chu Hung-che (朱宏哲) said that the bureau had dispatched employees to collect the Styrofoam, adding that the operation could take several days given the wide distribution of the trash.
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