The Ministry of Digital Affairs has launched a project to develop a beach trash early warning system to facilitate cleanups in collaboration with environmental groups, Azure Alliance chief executive officer Chen Ssu-ying (陳思穎) said yesterday.
Chen made the remarks while overseeing the maintenance of the alliance’s uncrewed observation boat Azure Fighter at a shipyard in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水).
Chen, who majored in oceanography and worked as a technician in a maritime ecological database, said that Taitung County’s worsening problem with beach trash has prompted her to take action instead of being a passive observer.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
Local environmental groups have repeatedly conducted beach cleanups that involved 50 to 100 volunteers, but these efforts alone would not suffice in tackling the crisis, Chen said, adding that a more efficient use of resources is needed.
The system being created by the alliance and Indigo Waters Institute would utilize time-lapse cameras at ports and data from the Central Weather Administration for research into the relationship between the formation of beach trash and ocean debris fields, she said.
This study might shed light on complaints by Taiwan’s beachside communities that local residents have nothing to do with the appearance of trash on their shorelines, but receive all the blame, Chen said.
Establishing indicators for the appearance of trash patches on or near the country’s shoreline would allow improved targeting of beach cleanup efforts, leading to more efficient use of human resources and quicker response times, Chen said.
Similar studies are already being conducted in Japan and South Korea, she added.
The project team is carrying out preliminary research using the beaches of the Nanya Peculiar Rock (南雅奇岩), Bitou Fishing Harbor (鼻頭漁港) and Dinglao (頂寮) in New Taipei City, Chen said.
The early warning system would feature a color-coded advisory, with green, yellow and red respectively indicating an absence of marine litter near the coast, the presence of some marine litter in the near seas and the presence of ocean garbage in the seaport itself, she said.
The alliance hopes the project will be a first step toward the creation of a maritime debris-tracking database with the government, Chen said, adding that official support is needed to furnish the raw information needed to develop a model.
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