ECOSYSTEM:
The environmental groups said that the Executive Yuan has yet to finalize a draft bill to ensure full conservation and protection of marine resources

• By Chen Chia-yi and Jason Pan / Staff reporters

Environmental groups yesterday held a protest in front of the Executive Yuan in Taipei, urging the Cabinet to pass a draft bill on ocean conservation by the end of this legislative term.

“Taiwan is surrounded by the sea and the Pacific Ocean, and it is urgent to pass key bills to protect marine resources and ensure sustainable development,” said Kuo Chia-wen (郭佳雯), board member of the Matsu Fish Conservation Union, Taiwan.

“Key regulations covering the ocean and its resources are laid out in several draft bills, offering different levels of protection and varying control standards, but they still cannot ensure full conservation and protection of marine ecosystems,” she said.

Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times

Only the draft Marine Industry Development bill (海洋產業發展條例) has passed a third reading in the legislature, while the most important one — a bill on ocean conservation — is still awaiting a proposal from the Executive Yuan, she added.

“Taiwan’s coral reefs in coastal areas are under severe threat due to seawater warming. With the world’s major oceans in July setting record-high temperatures, many marine species are facing the danger of extinction,” New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said at the protest.

“The waters surrounding Taiwan and our coasts are under unremitting assault due to worsening pollution, degradation due to the construction of offshore wind turbines, overfishing leading to depletion of fish stocks and Chinese vessels engaged in illegal sand dredging,” he said.

“We lack funding and personnel to take up marine conservation work, which is not covered by legal measures that can mete out punishments or have a deterrent effect,” he said, adding that his party is ready with its version of a draft bill.

“We are now into the final few months of this legislative term, but the Executive Yuan has yet to finalize its draft bill. In failing to do so, lawmakers cannot put its deliberation on the agenda,” he said.

Taiwan Environmental Information Association’s project manager Kuan Chun-an (官淳安) said that an ocean conservation bill could help replenish fish and marine resources, so that the fishing industry would not have to contend with dwindling catch or catching smaller fish.

Hopefully, such legislation can fully protect all marine ecosystems, he said.