Penghu East-West Jitou Corridor Fishing Ban Sparks Strong Backlash from Fishermen; Residents Lament Fewer Fish

To save Penghu's increasingly depleted fish stocks, marine conservation advocates recently launched a petition on the National Development Council's "Public Policy Participation Platform," calling for "complete fishing ban in the Dongxiji Corridor" and demanding that within the national park's protected area, a complete no-fishing zone be designated as a "seed stock reservoir," allowing fish to "grow well and full" before spilling over into other waters, to benefit sustainable marine development. Within just one month, it gained responses from more than 5,692 people across Taiwan, smoothly crossing the petition threshold.

However, this petition, originally intended to "protect Penghu's fishery resources," made Penghu's fishing community jump. Penghu County Wang'an Township Chief Hsu Hsien-te believes that the Dongxiji Corridor is an important Spanish mackerel production area in Penghu, and outsiders should not interfere. Penghu District Fishermen's Association Director-General Tsai Yueh-chiao strongly stated, "Global fish resources are all becoming scarcer, and it's not just Penghu. Banning fishing in that patch (the Dongxiji Corridor) is asking Penghu people to live on what!" However, some Dongyuping residents quietly said that they had been unable to catch fish for more than a month, and believed the fishing ban was necessary.

Facing the controversy, Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Huang Hung-yen of the central competent authority for fisheries said, "If fishermen are willing, the central government would absolutely welcome it, but we still respect local assessment, judgment, and communication." Penghu County Government Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau Deputy Director Lin Hung-cheng said that since the number of petitioners had reached the case threshold, at this stage they would invite fishermen's groups, diving operators, and experts and scholars to hold internal communication meetings and submit a response within 2 months.

Academia Sinica researcher Shao Kuang-chao: Should communicate with fishermen: "Don't touch the principal, eat the interest first."

From the Wang'an Township Chief to the Penghu District Fishermen's Association Director-General, they repeatedly claimed, "You can't completely ban fishing just because of the opinion of the majority on the main island of Taiwan, and destroy Penghu people's livelihoods." But are Penghu's fish resources really only Penghu people's business?

Academia Sinica Biodiversity Research Center researcher Shao Kuang-chao said, "Fish belong to all citizens, not to fishermen!" Although Taiwan currently lacks long-term fishery resource monitoring data, "even if it exists, it cannot be obtained, or it is not made public." But from a broad perspective, fishery resources across Taiwan are declining, and this is a general trend.

"From my point of view, of course a complete no-fishing zone should be designated." Shao Kuang-chao said bluntly that according to foreign reports, if the proportion of complete no-fishing zones is too low, marine protected areas cannot make a difference, and fish resources still cannot be protected.

Shao Kuang-chao believes that the first task is still "communicating with fishermen," and fishermen must be made to understand, "Don't touch the principal first, eat the interest first." When the fish in the marine protected area increase, fishermen will have more fish than they can catch, "and this is the principle of sustainability." And this must go through continuous communication.

Fisheries Agency: Respect local areas Penghu Fisheries Bureau: Hold internal communication meetings

"Now that ordinary people have raised this proposal, as for whether the government should promote it? Attitude is very important." Petition initiator Wu Tsu-hsiang said that the petition threshold has now been reached, and as for whether the government is willing to take this issue seriously, and whether it is willing to promote it, the entire key lies in "attitude."

And where is the government's attitude? Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Huang Hung-yen of the central competent authority for fisheries responded, "If fishermen are willing to cooperate, the Fisheries Agency of course encourages and supports sustainable resources and not overdevelopment. The central government would absolutely welcome it, "but we still respect local areas, and local governments need to further assess, judge, and communicate."

The central government has repeatedly emphasized, "Respect local areas." Then what is the local government's attitude? Wang'an Township Chief Hsu Hsien-te said, "We hope to hold public hearings and first respect local voices; if local livelihoods are not a problem, then of course we respect the majority public opinion."

Penghu County Government Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau Deputy Director Lin Hung-cheng said that since the number of petitioners has reached the case threshold, at this stage they will invite fishermen's groups, diving operators, and experts and scholars to hold internal communication meetings. It is still uncertain whether public hearings will be held, but a response will be submitted within two months.