Mon, Oct 06, 2025 page2

• Coral decline not just from fishing: agency

  INVESTIGATIONS: The Fisheries Agency urged further study into the causes of coral bleaching, while Greenpeace criticized the proposal as wasting time needed to act

  • By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter
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  Coral bleaching and decline can result from various causes and should not be attributed solely to fishery activities without long-term research, the Fisheries Agency said on Friday.

  The agency made the remarks in response to Greenpeace’s calls for including regulation of fishery activities in marine protected area planning to help revive weakened coral reef ecosystems — especially those in Pingtung County’s Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球), the South Penghu Marine National Park and Taitung County’s Sansiantai (三仙台).

  The number of tourists visiting Siaoliouciou Island has in recent years exceeded the suggested environmental carrying capacity, the agency said.

  

  A moray eel is entangled in a fishing net in waters off Touwu Island — a complete no-fishing zone — in Penghu County in an undated photograph.

  Photo courtesy of Greenpeace via CNA

  Net fishing boats have already been banned from operating in waters within 3 nautical miles (5.56km) of Siaoliouciou Island since 2013 in accordance with the Fisheries Act (漁業法), while the Penghu County Government that year also announced prohibited areas for fishing with gillnets, it said.

  The agency has also assisted several local governments in banning coral harvesting in waters within 12 nautical miles of coast in accordance with the act, including Kaohsiung, and Pingtung, Taitung, Yilan and Penghu counties, it said.

  Environmental factors that would affect coral reefs dwelling in shallow waters include climate change, rising sea temperatures, human activities and development activities, it said.

  Therefore, fishery activities should not be considered the main cause of shallow water coral deterioration at this stage, the agency said.

  The agency said the Ocean Affairs Council in 2022 convened multiple meetings on coral conservation, as coral in waters around Siaoliouciou Island has not grown well over the past few years.

  The meetings found that coral conservation can be undermined due to various causes, such as snorkeling — in which coral reefs could be trodden by people; untreated wastewater pollution — which could lead to poor water quality and excessive nutrient levels; overfishing, or marine debris, it said.

  All these factors can jointly drive coral bleaching or decline, which should not be attributed solely to fishing boat operations, the agency said, adding that long-term research and more scientific data are required to prove the causal effect.

  Greenpeace on Saturday said that fisheries management should be incorporated into marine protected area planning, as the agency agreed that overfishing is a threat to coral ecosystems.

  The agency should also publish outcomes of its implemented schemes, like local fishing bans or trawling bans, given that actual data and Greenpeace’s investigations showed that coral coverage around Siaoliouciou Island continued to decline, Greenpeace said.

  International ocean governance follows the precautionary principle to prevent irreversible harm, it said.

  Acting after so-called long-term research is completed might be too late, Greenpeace said, urging the agency to promptly initiate cross-department collaboration to address the problem.
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