《TAIPEI TIMES》 Coral bleaching in south blamed on lack of storms

FINE FIRST: The owner of a cargo ship that damaged coral when it ran aground off Pingtung County in 2018 was fined NT$652,967, although NT$5.8m was sought

By Hung Ting-hung, Tsai Tsung-hsien and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer

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A lack of typhoons to cool waters off the south of Taiwan have resulted in severe coral bleaching, the Ocean Conservation Administration said yesterday as it issued a level 2 alert over the issue.

The agency surveyed 20 areas near the coast of Taiwan proper, as well as off Green Island （綠島） and Orchid Island （Lanyu, 蘭嶼）, it said, adding that it issued a level 1 alert for areas in northern Taiwan, where it found only sporadic bleaching.

Level 2 alerts were issued for all of the areas it assessed in the south, with the exception of Jihuei Fishing Port （基翬漁港） in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township （成功）, which had mild to moderate bleaching, it said.

“In much of the country the bleaching is happening where the water depth is around 2m, at which depth the coral is more affected by sunlight and human activities,” the agency said. “At depths of 3m, there has been mild bleaching, with some heat-sensitive coral species being moderately bleached.”

The issue is concerning because if coral start to die then fish near the shore will be without a habitat and will move away, it said.

Water temperatures of 20°C to 28°C are ideal for coral growth and the only way to bring temperatures back within that range is through long-term carbon emission reductions, it said.

In other news, the owner of the Chu Lung cargo ship — which ran aground off Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township （滿州） on Dec. 16, 2018, damaging 377m2 of coral — on Sunday was fined NT$652,967 （US$21,772）.

The Kenting National Park Management Office had requested the owner be fined NT$5.8 million due to the extensive damage to marine life, which it said would take 15 years to recover.

This was the first time a fine has been imposed for damaging coral, the office said.

The incident occurred because the ship failed to follow proper procedures, which caused it to deviate from its route, the office said, citing the findings of an investigation.

It was fortunate that there was no oil spill, which would have caused significantly greater damage to the marine environment, it said.

The fine it requested was not unreasonable, the office said, citing a case earlier this month in which an Egyptian court fined the owner of a tourism project on the Giftun Island Reserve US$1.3 million for environmental damage, including the destruction of coral.

However, the court agreed with the lawyer of the ship’s owner who argued that Article 21 of the Maritime Act （海商法） puts a limit on a ship operator’s legal liability, the office said.

The office said it had appealed.

It has also commissioned Academia Sinica researchers to help it study the damaged area and observe the recovery process, it said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES