Population numbers of the Formosan landlocked salmon are rallying, thanks to conservation work in its habitat, Shei-Pa National Park in the Xueshan Range in Taiwan’s north-central region. The endangered species has been brought back from the brink of extinction and numbers were counted at 12,587 in 2020, with 6,700 of these in the Qijiawan Creek.
First discovered in the late 1910s, the species was once a common sight in streams feeding into the upper section of the Dajia River which eventually empties into the Taiwan Strait. However, by 1992 when the national park was established, the landlocked salmon population had dwindled to some 200 individuals in the Wuling area, due to agricultural development and fishing.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry Bureau recognized the importance of the fish and designated Wuling a major wildlife habitat in 1995, followed by a Taichung local government announcement of a landlocked salmon wildlife reserve two years later. The population started to recover more noticeably after 2000 when SPNP’s Wuling Station took a series of practical measures for reviving the species.
The Wuling Station breeds salmon before releasing them into the wild.
These included removing weirs on streams in Wuling that blocked the fishes’ movement up and downstream to spawn. Wuling Station partially demolished five barriers up to 2011, which improved the genetic diversity of the species, helping the fish withstand the challenges of environmental stress.
Station Chief Liao Lin-yan explained that fingerlings bred at Wuling Station are released not only in Qijiawan Creek, but also in remote satellite streams. Replenishing populations in various waterways gives a better chance of overall population survival.
Reforestation encourages insects that the salmon feed on.
Reforestation of the surrounding habitat also aids population recovery, as the fish feed on insects. Equally important, the shade keeps temperatures below the 17 degrees Celsius that the species needs to survive.
The reforestation movement was given support by the private sector last year, when Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation and Hotai Motor cooperated with FB to plant 13,000 trees in 11 hectares of abandoned farmland at Wuling. The FB provided saplings and agricultural advice, while Hotai offered financial support and the foundation coordinated human resources to plant and tend trees.
Although the situation seems positive, Liao still has reservations about the fish’s future, saying he has seen fish washed away in torrential typhoons and their habitat dry up during monthslong droughts. Taiwan has come a long way in tackling conservation but must remain vigilant to ensure the species continues its recovery. (E) (By Oscar Chung)
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SPNP staff release salmon into Hehuan Creek in the Xueshan Range.
(This article is adapted from “Rallying Back” in the July/August issue of Taiwan Review. The Taiwan Review archives dating to 1951 are available online.)