An underwater survey near Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) found an outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish that has killed almost all the coral reefs there, Academia Sinica marine biologist Jeng Ming-shiou (鄭明修) said yesterday.
Jeng, who is also the chairman of Society for Wildlife and Nature, in April led a research team on a diving trip to survey coral reefs in the area, a project commissioned by the Ocean Affairs Council’s National Academy of Marine Research.
To the team’s surprise, more than 90 percent of the corals in waters more than 2m deep were dead, Jeng said, adding that the corals were mostly healthy during their survey in September 2019.
Photo courtesy of the Society for Wildlife and Nature
The team found an unusual outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish, which prey on corals.
Normally, a 10,000m2 area underwater that is half covered in coral can sustain 20 to 30 crown-of-thorns starfish, he said.
Anything more could kill the corals, he added.
In the April survey, the team documented 532 crown-of-thorns starfish along 14 research routes near Itu Aba, with each route measuring about 500m2, he said.
That translates into 760 starfish per 10,000m2 of water, exceeding the alert level, he said.
Large coral deaths caused by the propagation of crown-of-thorns starfish had also been reported in waters near Australia, Japan, Indonesia and Guam, he said.
To restrict the starfish’s growth, people can protect their natural enemies, such as giant triton snails, and control marine pollution to reduce algae that proliferate over nutrients and become food for starfish, he said.
Removing starfish manually is another option, but the sea creature’s sting is poisonous and can result in painful wounds, he said.
More than a decade ago, a proliferation of crown-of-thorns starfish was also reported in waters near Penghu County, Jeng said.
In 2010, he initiated an action to catch 96 starfish in waters southeast of Penghu’s Siji Islet (西吉嶼), while the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center also led another team to catch 139 starfish in waters around the county, he said.
Another common method is to inject 20cc of diluted acetic acid into starfish, which would die on the seabed, he said, adding that their locations can be identified with the help of image recognition systems.
However, there is no cure-all to curb the growth of crown-of-thorns starfish, so it is vital to continue monitoring coral reefs on a long-term basis and taking swift action against starfish, Jeng said.
More research is needed to determine if the starfish’s proliferation is a general phenomenon or an isolated case near Itu Aba Island, the Ocean Conservation Administration said in a news release later yesterday.
The agency this year started a project to survey the conditions of snails and shellfish crucial to sustaining coral ecosystems, and is working with the National Academy of Marine Research to protect corals.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
RSS