ENVIRONMENT
Ready for snake season
About 1,000 doses of antivenom are administered each year in Taiwan to treat snake bites, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday, before the country enters the peak month of snake bites next month. From 2017 to 2021, an average of 979 people per year received antivenom after being bitten by snakes, while nine died from such bites in that period — a fatality rate of 0.18 percent, CDC spokesman Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said, adding that most snake bites occurred between May and November, peaking in August with an average of 112 cases. Of the reported cases, 82.9 percent — or 811 people — were treated with antivenom after being bitten by a hundred-pacer or a Chinese green tree viper, followed by 110 involving the many-banded krait or Taiwan cobra. Lo said antivenom used in southern and eastern Taiwan was primarily for bites from hundred-pacers and Chinese green tree vipers, while cases involving many-banded kraits or cobras were more common in central Taiwan.
ENVIRONMENT
Illegal logging declines
Illegal logging in Taiwan’s national forests has dropped by 80 percent over the past decade, thanks in part to the rise of tribal forest-based economies, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said on Tuesday. Illegal logging cases dropped from 290 in 2013 to 58 last year, a decline the agency attributed to support from indigenous communities in developing sustainable “understory industries” like beekeeping, mushroom farming and eco-tourism. “When tribal communities benefit legally from forest resources, they are far less likely to turn to or tolerate illegal logging,” agency Director Lin Hua-ching (林華慶) said. These efforts have not only improved local incomes and reduced poverty, but also encouraged young people to return home and take part in forest protection, Lin added. So far, 91 communities have joined forest patrol and protection programs, with some areas reporting nearly no illegal logging, agency data showed. National Taipei University associate professor Chen Shiang-fan (陳湘繁) said that poverty, poor education and gang recruitment were major drivers in illegal logging. Community elder Gen Chih-you (根誌優) said that when he returned to his village in 2018, many residents viewed forest resources as free for the taking. After partnering with the agency in 2019, they started raising bees and cultivating mushrooms to earn a living, and with more stable incomes, his fellow tribe members became increasingly willing to protect the forest, he said.
FISHERIES
New fish feed developed
The Fisheries Research Institute on Monday said it has developed a new technique to raise black soldier fly larvae using fish by-products, aiming to reduce reliance on imported fishmeal in aquaculture feed. The institute said that most fishmeal used in Taiwan’s aquaculture industry is imported and produced from large-scale marine fishing, and it began developing the larvae to address marine resource shortages. The larvae are fed on fish processing waste such as heads and bones, which helps them absorb nutrients that can then be converted into insect protein suitable for fish diets, it said adding that they take about two weeks to reach harvest maturity, after which they are dried, stripped of fat content and ground into powder. The resulting insect meal meets the highest-grade fishmeal protein specifications, it said, adding that insects are a natural part of fish diets in the wild, and that using them in feed supports both high-protein nutrition and ecological food cycles.
LOW RISK: Most nations do not extradite people accused of political crimes, and the UN says extradition can only happen if the act is a crime in both countries, an official said China yesterday issued wanted notices for two Taiwanese influencers, accusing them of committing “separatist acts” by criticizing Beijing, amid broadening concerns over China’s state-directed transnational repression. The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in a notice posted online said police are offering a reward of up to 25,000 yuan (US$3,523) for information that could contribute to the investigation or apprehension of pro-Taiwanese independence YouTuber Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝),who is known as Pa Chiung (八炯) online, and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源). Wen and Chen are suspected of spreading content that supported secession from China, slandered Chinese policies that benefit Taiwanese and discrimination against Chinese spouses of
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
The US approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for US$330 million, the Pentagon said late yesterday, marking the first such potential transaction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient's fleet of F-16, C-130," and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement. Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has told him he would not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office. The announcement of the possible arms
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