The Executive Yuan approved May 13 the creation of the Marine National Park Headquarters, which will operate under the Ministry of the Interior's Construction and Planning Administration, which administers six other national parks. While areas around Orchid Island, Green Island and the three islets off Keelung City in northern Taiwan were all slated to become marine national parks, the headquarters' first priority was the Dongsha Atoll National Park, formally established Jan. 17, chief of the DANP Preparatory Office Wu Hsiang-chien said May 17.
According to the preparatory office, the area around Dongsha Island, the only land mass in the group that remains above sea level, is made up of an atoll that occupies 80,000 hectares. When ocean area is included, the figure increases to about 350,000 hectares that contain environmental features such as lagoons, coral reefs and algal beds. The area is also known for its biodiversity, with around 500 fish species and 250 coral strains, as well as numerous other marine life forms. The area has been claimed by surrounding countries, but the ROC maintains effective jurisdiction over the main island.
Wu said the conservation efforts were urgently needed, as destructive fishing practices had left over 90 percent of corals dead and resulted in significant loss of marine resources.
Almost no Taiwanese boats fished around Dongsha in recent years, Wu explained, due to the high cost of fuel and marginal profits. Fishing boats from surrounding nations, such as China, Vietnam and the Philippines, continued to enter this area, he said. Poachers often used explosives and poisons, which killed off fish. When the mercury batteries in their boat lights died, fishermen would discard the batteries into the ocean, further polluting the area.
Wu cited the "2004 Status of Coral Reefs of the World" report, conducted by international organizations such as the World Conservation Union and World Wildlife Fund International, which documented how human activities had continued to be the primary cause of the global coral crisis.
The coverage of living coral in the Dongsha area was 80 percent in 1994, but had dwindled to around 10 percent in 2002, according to Wu. The government began cracking down on illegal fishing in 2004, designating the Dongsha waters as a no-fishing zone. Thanks to enforcement, he continued, coral coverage grew to 60 percent at the outer part of the atoll, yet only 10 to 20 percent of coral were revived in the lagoons.
Coast guard officers began policing exercises last year, chasing out 181 foreign boats in 53 exercises in 2006, and 732 boats in 78 exercises in the first quarter of 2007, according to the Southern Coastal Patrol Office under the Coast Guard Administration. Fishing vessels kept coming, however, and would sneak into lagoons using smaller boats to avoid detection.
Wu warned that, as Dongsha was a hub for marine life in the western Pacific, destruction of natural habitats would trigger changes in the environment, turning it into a dead area. "The efforts we put into conserving fish species and their habitats will also help revive marine resources of other nations, as fish know no boundaries," he stated.
With the establishment of the park administration, more people and more powerful patrol vessels would be dispatched to guard this area. Wu commented that "international cooperation is the best way to conserve marine resources," adding that global organizations had to put pressure on countries to rein in their fishermen.
Cooperation with world conservation organizations could also be strengthened, and taking part in regional or international activities to protect oceanic resources would be major responsibilities for the new park administration, he said.
Though Taiwanese had stopped fishing in the area, they bought fish smuggled from countries that still did, Wu said. The coast guard claimed to have even seen rare species of fish among confiscated catches. Education was needed to change people's idea that marine resources were inexhaustible, he pointed out.
Education would start with traditional fishing villages, which could be transformed into places for oceanic eco-tourism. This would take about 10 years, Wu estimated. People could go on fishing for recreation, but rules should be established, regarding how to fish and conduct tours in an eco-friendly manner. These all required comprehensive research, Wu said, so a large portion of the Cabinet-approved budget for the DANP, around US$8.5 million, would go to monitoring and research facilities, as well as education.
The marine national park headquarters, to be located in Kaohsiung City, will have four departments and an outpost on Dongsha Island. Though its budget bill for staffing and infrastructure still had to pass in the Legislature, Wu said their priority projects were coral revival and a resources survey. The park office would also study how construction of these facilities would affect the region's natural environment.
Write to June Tsai at june@mail.gio.gov.tw