The Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) yesterday warned the public against catching protected marine species, after a fisher in Taitung County allegedly killed an endangered humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus).
The humphead wrasse, also known as the Maori fish or Napoleon fish, is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species.
The fisher, surnamed Lee (李), on Monday posted on a Line chat room two photographs of himself with a dead humphead wrasse that he had allegedly caught, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday.
Photo: CNA
He could be seen giving the thumbs-up sign in one of the photos, the newspaper said.
Lee left the chat room after his friends told him that his action might be illegal, the newspaper reported.
The OCA in a news release on Tuesday said that it on Monday received reports of the incident from the public, along with screen captures of the photos, adding that it immediately notified the Coast Guard Administration and the Taitung Department of Agriculture to investigate the matter.
Coast guard personnel later on Tuesday found Lee, who said he did catch the fish, but did not know it was a protected species, adding that he had dumped the carcass in the sea, the OCA said.
The species is often found in waters off the coast of southern and southeastern Taiwan, OCA Deputy Director-General Wu Long-jing (吳龍靜) said.
There were estimated to be only four humphead wrasses near Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) before Lee allegedly killed one of them, Wu said.
There are fewer than 30 humphead wrasses in waters near Taiwan, Academia Sinica research fellow Jeng Ming-shiou (鄭明修) said, citing surveys conducted over the past decades.
Judging from the photos shared by the suspect, Taitung Agriculture Department Director Hsu Chia-hao (許家豪) said Lee might have harpooned the fish in its pectoral fin and tail fin.
Following questioning, Lee was directed to the Taitung District Prosecutors’ Office for suspected contraventions of the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), the OCA said.
The prosecutors’ office yesterday said it summoned Lee and another man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), for questioning.
While the animal’s carcass has not been yet found, prosecutors are collecting evidence to build a case against the men, the office said.
People who are caught harassing, abusing, hunting, killing or otherwise utilizing protected wildlife can face a prison term of six months to five years, or a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$1 million (US$7,045 to US$35,224), the OCA said.
Additional reporting by Huang Ming-tang
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS