A conservationist in Kinmen County is determined to save species of fish endemic to the islands, no matter the size.
Chen Kuang-yao (陳光耀), director of the Kinmen Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation Association, has dedicated himself to saving the many unique species that live in and around the outlying islands.
He has recently turned his sights to Metzia mesembrinum, a type of minnow, which Chen said is “nothing special,” but faces imminent extinction.
Photo: CNA
The freshwater fish cloaked in subdued browns and grays grows as long as 4.8cm, but only in Taiwan.
It disappeared from Taiwan proper more than a century ago, leaving Kinmen as the only place where it can be found in the wild.
Chen said that there are only about 10,000 left, primarily in the Guangcian (光前溪) and Doumen (斗門溪) creeks.
Photo: CNA
Yet in the short time between Chen’s last two surveys, it appears as though they have already disappeared from Doumen Creek, mainly due to drought conditions.
Kinmen has been experiencing its worst drought in 50 years, posing a threat to many aquatic species, Chen said on Tuesday last week.
Farmers have been rerouting what little water there is to irrigate their crops, leaving none for the fish, he said.
“Fish are not like other animals; they cannot move to another habitat,” he said. “If Metzia mesembrinum disappear from Kinmen, they will have disappeared from the Earth.”
Some rehabilitation efforts have preserved a small number of them, but the situation remains dire, he added.
This led Chen to reach deep into his own pockets to start what he calls a “fish reclamation workshop” committed to protecting the last of the world’s Metzia mesembrinum.
The workshop has three breeding tanks which hold about 300 of the fish as a “reserve fund.”
If they go extinct, these 300 fish could be released back into the wild to repopulate the island, Chen said.
He has also spared no expense on the NT$5 million (US$180,375) facility, all the way down to the high-protein eel food he purchases as feed.
All told, the workshop costs him about NT$50,000 per month, but Chen said that it is worthwhile.
“They might not look special, but each species has value,” he said. “If we preserve them, they will be there for the next generation.”
This is why he insists on conservation and rehabilitation, Chen said, because “an animal saved is an animal gained.”
Apart from Metzia mesembrinum, Chen also works tirelessly to preserve other rapidly disappearing fish species native to Kinmen.
Long after disappearing from the county’s main island, Chen rediscovered the climbing perch, or Anabas testudineus, in neighboring Lieyu Township (烈嶼).
He also managed to catch a rosy bitterling, which had been thought to be extinct from Kinmen for more than 20 years, both of which are also being rehabilitated at Chen’s workshop.
Chen said he is still chasing his own personal white whale.
The Snyder’s barb, or Barbodes snyderi, has not been seen in the wild for nearly two decades.
Chen said he has searched all over the county, including for three straight days in Cingtian Reservoir (擎天水庫), but the fish still eludes him.
Even after 10 years, he said he would keep looking.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS