Solar power impacts fishermen and farmland agricultural use; Qigu residents petition: fishery-solar competition is not coexistence

In response to the government's development of green energy, the Council of Agriculture has promoted "fishery-solar coexistence," with plans to install solar panels over fish ponds. The rules stipulate that the shading rate must not exceed 40%, with the remaining 60% reserved for aquaculture use. Once the news came out, many energy companies have aggressively moved into Qigu, Tainan, China since last year, and have rented land from landowners at ten times the price. Of the roughly 1,200 hectares in the Qigu Haipu Xinsheng section, one-fifth has already been rented or bought by these companies, prompting local residents to criticize conglomerates for grabbing land from disadvantaged fishermen and affecting fishermen's families' livelihoods.

Yang Huiqin, chairman of the Qigu Coastal Land Resource Protection Association, Huang Xianli, chief of Sangu Village, and Zhang Shuijin, chief of Shifen Village, led 80 local residents on the 9th to petition the Executive Yuan in Taipei. In the afternoon, they also attended a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan, insisting on defending the work rights and interests of local fishermen.

Appendix: Local residents' six demands

1. Starting from the protection of the endangered black-faced spoonbill, green energy facilities must exclude the black-faced spoonbill foraging areas.
2. Petition the Council of Agriculture to prioritize national land conservation in its deliberations; green energy facilities must exclude excellent aquaculture zones that do not pump groundwater for aquaculture.
3. Petition the Council of Agriculture to plan incentive policies for aquaculture zones that over-pump groundwater, vigorously promoting aquaculture combined with solar power in land subsidence areas to facilitate national land restoration.
4. Reaffirm that under the "Ocean Management Act," the coastal aquaculture fish pond area of Qigu is non-urban land and also falls within the scope of "coastal road land." No application for "land use rezoning" may be made under any special zone or any pretext, and this should be communicated by letter to the relevant departments to prevent solar power companies from harboring opportunistic intentions.
5. Sites planned for fishery-solar coexistence must obtain the consent of owners of adjacent land, in order to comply with Article 27-3 of the Green Energy Installation regulations, which states that adjacent agricultural use and the production environment must not be affected.
6. For sites where solar power companies apply for special projects, local governments shall hold briefing sessions for residents of the administrative district so that local residents have a participation mechanism.