Learning Lessons from the Sea:

What is so special about the seas surrounding Taiwan, that keeps people coming back for more? We posed this question to famous ichthyologist Shao Kwang-tsao, former director of the Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center.

photo by Kyo Liu

Ichthyologist Shao Kwang-tsao is one of the leading advocates for marine conservation in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s rich marine biodiversity

Shao explains that not only do the seas around Taiwan contain many rare species, but even more importantly Taiwan is located at the northern tip of the Coral Triangle (a.k.a. the East Indies Triangle of Biodiversity), which has the greatest marine biodiversity in the world. At the same time it is at the edge of the Eurasian tectonic plate and the Eurasian continental shelf, giving it both deep-sea and continental-­shelf marine environments. Furthermore, the fact that three ocean currents—the China Coastal Current, the South China Sea Warm Current and the Kuroshio Current—pass by Taiwan creates ecotone effects (an eco­tone is a transition zone between biological communities), resulting in rich and diverse ecosystems.

The seas around Taiwan are varied and complex, and include numerous different ecosystems including coral reefs, mangrove forests, lithoherms (rocky mounds), soft bottoms, seagrass beds, submarine hydrothermal vents, lagoons, and deep-sea ecosystems. They also have different currents, geologic characteristics, water depths, and water temperatures. Different habitats nurture different species, so that Taiwan, with only 1,600 kilo­meters of coastline, is home to one-tenth of the world’s known fish species.

Global marine conservation issues

Three-quarters of the earth’s surface is covered by ocean, which helps regulate the climate and whose life forms are a major source of nutrition for humankind. However, due to factors including the Industrial Revolution, global population growth, evolving fishing methods, and climate change, marine life now faces a crisis even more urgent than that faced by life on land.

In 1995, French marine biologist Daniel Pauly proposed the idea of “the ocean’s shifting baseline.” Although the total number of known marine species has been continually increasing in the wake of new discoveries, the populations of many species have been declining. This may not be apparent when comparing numbers across short timeframes of ten years or less. But comparisons with figures from two to three decades or even half a century ago reveal large, rapid declines. Like the proverbial frog in boiling water, humankind has been witnessing a tremendous catastrophe without even being aware of it.

Effective marine protection

There are many approaches to marine conservation, including policies to limit fishing, sustainable seafood indicators, and the Satoumi Initiative, as well as the deployment of artificial reefs and the release of fish fry. But after decades of experimentation, countries have discovered that establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) where fishing is completely banned is the simplest, most economically sound, and most effective way to promote marine conservation. From doing pure research into fish species to becoming a standard-bearer for marine conservation, Shao Kwang-tsao has been an advocate for protecting the marine environment for more than 30 years. He explains that demarcating MPAs is a form of habitat conservation for marine life. He adds that “MPAs are like capital saved up in a bank.” As fish populations in an MPA increase, they will naturally cross over into unprotected areas where fishermen can catch them, in keeping with the principle of sustainable use.

Target 11 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, adopted in 2010 under the Convention on Biological Diversity, calls for 10% of the world’s coastal and marine areas to enjoy protected status by 2020. This figure needs to rise to 30% by 2030, say international NGOs, or it will be too late. In Taiwan a Marine Conservation Act looks likely to be passed into law by the end of 2022, creating a legal foundation for the government to demarcate and manage MPAs.

If the marine ecology were to collapse, the fishing industry could not survive. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Born and bred in Keelung, Lin Ching-hai. deputy director of the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, was an important advocate for establishing the Wanghaixiang Chaojing Bay Conservation Area.

Wanghaixiang: A pilot project

Creating MPAs and banning all fishing within them is easier said than done. Not only do these steps require government policymaking and scientific evidence from the academic community, it is also critical to convince fishermen, who bear the brunt of these measures, to cooperate.

In 2016 the Wanghaixiang Bay Marine Education Demonstration Area, in which fishing is completely forbidden, was established off Keelung, marking an important step forward for ocean conservation in Taiwan. Why was Wanghaixiang Bay chosen? Research by Shao Kwang-tsao shows that the ecological characteristics of the seas off Taiwan can be divided into two main areas by a line cutting from Su’ao in the northeast of the island to the four southernmost islands of the Penghu archipelago to the southwest. Keelung’s Badouzi peninsula, where Wanghaixiang Bay is located, is within the area where the warm, northward-flowing Kuroshio Current and the cold, southward-flowing China Coastal Current intersect, giving rise to an area of great biodiversity in the intertidal zone. Past eyewitness accounts by fishermen and divers tell of the presence of star species such as the sea slug Thecacera pacifica (nicknamed “Pikachu” by divers), which has attracted the admiration of thousands of divers around Okinawa, as well as pygmy seahorses (Hippocampus spp.). The bay is also a spawning ground for the bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana).

Chen Li-shu, a section director in the Industry-­Academy Cooperation Division at the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology (NMMST) explains: “If a sea area meets any one of the three conditions of bio­diversity, uniqueness, or being a spawning ground, that is enough to have it designated an MPA. But Wanghaixiang Bay in fact meets all three criteria.”

Support from local fishermen has been key to the Chaojing conservation area’s success. Some even patrol with the Coast Guard to police illegal fishing there.

Fighting for the ocean

Wanghaixiang Bay has a total area of 250 hectares, but for the pilot project the Keelung City Government first demarcated an area of 15 hectares as a demonstration zone. If this proves successful, the protected area will be expanded step by step. However, it was no easy feat to lay claim to even these first 15 hectares.

NMMST deputy director Lin Ching-hai well understands the urgency of marine conservation. Coming from a Keelung fishing family himself, he recalls how as a child he would see countless fishing boats clustered together in Zhengbin Fishing Harbor, and how even 30 years ago a fish trading business could earn revenues of over NT$1 million in a day. In contrast, today’s fishing industry, beset by overfishing, is in decline. The usually soft-spoken Lin’s voice is filled with determination when he talks about conservation, which he actively promoted during his term as director-general of the Keelung City Department of Economic Affairs.

However, says Lin, simply to rely on the willpower of civil servants is far from enough. “This kind of thing must be based on the collective wisdom and efforts of all stakeholders.” Through six years of consultation meetings with fishermen, advocates for the protected area succeeded in evoking an emotional connection between local residents and the sea, as well as their sense of local pride, so that quite a number of fishermen even agreed to organize joint patrols with the Coast Guard to police illegal fishing. Locally based scientific institutions like National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) and the NMMST are responsible for providing scientific research data, and also assist in releases of fish fry. More than 1,000 volunteers and fishing families have been mobilized for ocean cleanup activities, raising conservation awareness among participants and giving them a sense of personal investment in the enterprise.

In addition, the Keelung City Government showed its goodwill by not only banning the use of gillnets within 500 meters of shore but also by allocating funds to subsidize the recycling of such nets, to encourage fishermen to switch to other fishing methods. Even better, these various measures received the support of many elected representatives and were widely reported on in the local media, creating a synergistic effect.

Thus one can say that the establishment of the Wang­hai­xiang Chaojing Bay Resource Conservation Area, as the MPA is now known, was won by the concerted efforts of people from government, industry, and academic institutions including the Keelung City Government, NTOU, elected officials, fishermen, and the media, as well as volunteers and local residents.

At the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, located close by the Wanghaixiang Chaojing Bay Conservation Area, visitors can see undersea scenery in real time via underwater cameras.

For the next generation

In 2021, after the sea within the conservation area had enjoyed several years of recuperation, and with international travel suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Chaojing welcomed more than 90,000 tourist visits over the course of the year. To prevent environmental damage, the city government has had no choice but to consider controls on visitor numbers. Nonetheless, this situation has confirmed the experience of many other countries: A well-managed conservation area not only will lead to a revival of the ecosystem, it will also drive growth in peri­pheral industries, indicating that there is not necessarily a conflict between the environment and the economy.

Marine conservation is a pressing task. But while many marine species are hanging on for dear life, fortunately there should still be time to save them. Moreover, as environmental education has taken root, there has been a marked upgrade in the marine knowledge and conservation consciousness of the new generation. By acting together for conservation, we can overcome this time of crisis in which “where the older generation picked up seashells, the younger generation picks up trash.” If we can draw positive lessons from past mistakes, our “beautiful island in a swirling sea” can be sustainably passed on to future generations.

After several years of rehabilitation, marine life is flourishing in the Wanghaixiang Chaojing Bay Resource Conservation Area. (photo by Chen Zongwei)

Ichthyologist Shao Kwang-tsao is one of the leading advocates for marine conservation in Taiwan.