Chiayi County promotes eco-friendly floats for oyster farming to reduce marine pollution

Oyster farming is an important industry in the Yunlin-Chiayi-Tainan area, and the Styrofoam floats used on oyster racks pollute and harm the marine environment and ecology. To reduce the use of Styrofoam floats, Chiayi County has in recent years continued to encourage oyster farmers to switch to recycled compressed foam floats, and recently held an eco-friendly float promotion briefing at the Chiayi District Fishermen's Association to introduce the new eco-friendly floats to oyster farmers and encourage them to use them in order to reduce the burden on the marine environment.

A total of 2 eco-friendly float manufacturers and 1 eco-friendly pipe manufacturer came to give presentations at the briefing. They have now developed PE (polyethylene) rigid floats, EPP (polypropylene) foam floats and HDPE (polyethylene) pipes, which are characterized by being hard to break and suitable for long-term use, and do not cause the Styrofoam pollution problem in the environment. Information on the relevant eco-friendly floats and pipes is available on the Agriculture Department's website (https://bit.ly/2KncZvc), providing oyster farmers with options to use.

Under the county government's promotion of reduced use in recent years, two-thirds of the oyster racks in Chiayi County have now switched to recycled compressed foam material, while one-third still use Styrofoam material. Although most of these are now wrapped in non-woven fabric or plastic sheets, they will still break down over time and cause pollution. Therefore, over the past two years, in addition to continuing to encourage the switch to recycled compressed foam floats, the county government has also negotiated the development of more eco-friendly floats for oyster farmers to use as alternatives.

The oyster farming industry relies entirely on and makes use of marine resources. Chiayi County will continue to promote to oyster farmers the importance of protecting the marine environment and conserving ecology, and calls on oyster farmers still using traditional Styrofoam floats to replace them with eco-friendly floats as early as possible, so that we can all do our part to protect the ocean. Only in this way can oyster farming and the ocean coexist and prosper together, and only then can the oyster farming industry achieve sustainable development. If you have any questions, you can also contact the county government's Fisheries Section at 05-3620123#377.