The Penghu County Government should abandon time-specific fishing bans in favor of regional restrictions, Penghu Marine Biology Research Center director Justin Hsieh (謝恆毅) said.
From about February to early April each year, a species of small octopus endemic to Penghu, which are apparently still unnamed, gather in the intertidal zone along the Penghu shoreline in preparation for breeding.
However, catching the octopuses has become a popular nightly activity in in parts of the county, such as Baisha Township’s (白沙) Citou (岐頭) and Jhongtun (中屯) villages, and Magong City’s (馬公) Chongguang Borough (重光).
Overfishing has led to concerns not only of extinction of the octopuses, but also that damage to the intertidal zone by fishers poses a threat to all marine species.
Although the Penghu Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau bans fishing for the octopuses for the three-month period, critics say that the restriction has only caused populations to shrink further.
This was the case with bans on collector urchin fishing in the region, critics say, as when the restriction ends on July 1 each year, the species is killed in large numbers.
This year, prices for the octopuses have reportedly reached NT$1,200 per jin (600g).
Some have also questioned the timing of the ban on capturing the octopuses — which lasts from Friday to April 12 this year — saying it allows them to be caught before they have reproduced.
Hsieh said he has approached the county government several times to advise it to adopt a region-specific approach instead, but to no avail.
Fishing practices would only be sustainable if zones are created and fishing is allowed on a rotational basis, he said.
Due to the effects of climate change, the population of the Penghu octopus species has experienced great fluctuations, said Cheng Chen-cheng (城振誠), an associate research fellow at the center who has been studying the species for more than a decade.
The most significant hit to the population occurred after an unusually cold winter in 2008, Cheng said.
Fishers only caught one octopus for every two trips following that winter, he said, adding that years later the catch rate returned to an average of more than 10 per trip.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS