Marine Conservation Left to the Forestry Bureau Alone; Environmental Groups and Legislators Call for a Dedicated Agency and Fund to Be Established as Soon as Possible

Today is World Oceans Day. To push for the rapid establishment of a dedicated marine affairs agency, several environmental groups went to protest in front of the Executive Yuan this morning, hoping that policy coordination, including climate change, maritime security, marine science education and marine cultural and educational policy planning, as well as the management and use of marine resources, can at the very least be handled by a second-level government agency in the future, in order to improve structural problems such as the current situation in which the Fisheries Agency only cares about "fish that can be sold," while the Forestry Bureau, which is mainly responsible for conservation, already struggles greatly just focusing on terrestrial species.

Regarding this demand, Chen Jui-pin, secretary-general of the Taiwan Environmental Information Association, pointed out that the Organic Act of the Ocean Affairs Council already passed its third reading the year before last, yet two years have passed and there has still been no next step, while agencies such as the National Academy of Marine Research, the Ocean Affairs Council, and the Ocean Conservation Administration are nowhere to be seen. However, fishery resources have declined year after year, and the Taiwanese white dolphin, regarded by Taiwanese fishermen as the "Mazu fish," is even on the brink of extinction, highlighting the urgency of establishing a dedicated agency as soon as possible. The current inaction is administrative negligence.