The Marine National Park Headquarters yesterday said that maritime conservation volunteers reported the presence of barbed wire and fishing net markers near the South Penghu Marine National Park, indicating illicit fishing activities in the area.
Buoys marking the locations of gill nets were seen all along the stretch of ocean between Dongji (東吉) and Siji (西吉) islets and more gillnets were found 100m off Dongji Islet, it said.
The park is a conservation area.
Photo courtesy of the Penghu Maritime Volunteers Group
The agency said that it is looking into the reports.
Boats dispatched by the Marine National Park Headquarters found the buoys and gillnets at the reported areas, it said.
Fishing in any form is forbidden in the area, and as the nets have not been registered as required, they have been confiscated, the agency said.
The agency said that it would work with the Penghu Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to ascertain the ownership of the nets.
The Marine National Park Headquarters said that it notified captains of fishing vessels in the area that more buoy markers found in an area that was not a no-fishing zone, and they could retrieve their equipment.
The South Penghu Marine National Park was the ninth national park formed in the nation and the second marine national park. It was first conceived of in 2010 and was officially created on Oct. 18, 2014, including Dongji, Siji, Dongyuping (東嶼坪) and Siyuping (西嶼坪) islets, as well as nearby reefs and sea zones in Penghu County, the agency said.
Some parts of the national park overlap areas under the Basalt Formations Natural Conservation Area, which was created in 2008, it said.
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