Sea urchins depleted and harvested early? Conservation groups dive in to rescue them
Although civilian conservation groups in Penghu worry that sea urchins are being depleted and have called for this year's harvest to be delayed and for local protected zones to be closed to harvesting, the Penghu County Government still decided to open the season as usual and to maintain last (2015) year's decision to start harvesting half a month early, which infuriated local groups. Civilian groups launched a one-person-one-call campaign to petition the county government and save the sea urchins on the verge of depletion. Chen Jin-chuan, chairman of the Penghu Symbiotic Algae Association, even went online to recruit diving volunteers to rush-harvest 200 sea urchins for breeding.
The county government's Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau said, "The decision really is a dilemma." If the harvest time is delayed, it restricts the rights of law-abiding citizens, and since early harvesting was already implemented last year, policy continuity must be maintained. Chen Jin-chuan believes the county government should refer to Japan's experience and decisively designate protected zones, and that the county government should not fear pressure from votes but should do its utmost to guide fishermen with economic needs toward alternative livelihoods, rather than letting the economy and the environment remain forever opposed.
Sea urchins depleted and harvested early: population collapse
The white-spined sea urchin, commonly known in Taiwan, China as the horse-dung sea urchin, has its gonads developing from April to September each year, which is also the most "plump and delicious" period for gourmets, so overharvesting has become increasingly serious.
Earlier, the Penghu County Government enacted the "County's Closed Season for the White-Spined Sea Urchin and Minimum Catch Body Length Restrictions" (abbreviated as the "Sea Urchin Body Length Restrictions"), stipulating that the harvest period for the white-spined sea urchin is from June to the end of September, allowing sea urchins to continue reproducing in April and May; but starting last (2015) year, the county government resolved to start harvesting half a month early, and the depletion phenomenon became even more serious. There was even a report of the miserable situation in which no sea urchins could be caught on the first day of the harvest.
Chen Jin-chuan, chairman of the Penghu Symbiotic Algae Association, said in an interview with News&Market recently that normally by May, sea urchins in the intertidal zone appear one by one, yet until recently there was still a scene of "dead silence," and ecological sustainability is truly worrying. At the same time, the county government still announced last night (the 12th) that it would maintain the half-month-early harvest period, prompting Chen Jin-chuan to hurry online to call for volunteers, using "legal harvesting" to do the work of civilian seed preservation and sustainability.
Harvest rights of law-abiding people should not be restricted because of illegal overfishing; county government hopes releasing seedlings will make up the shortfall
Regarding the wave of opposition from the public, Xue Hong-ying, deputy director of the Penghu County Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau, admitted that the decision-making process was quite a dilemma, saying, "Conservation and harvesting were discussed for a long time." The final decision was still to start harvesting half a month early, mainly because the depletion of sea urchins is the evil consequence of "illegal overfishing," and if law-abiding citizens were restricted because of that, it would seem unfair.
Xue Hong-ying said that according to regulations, sea urchins that may be legally caught must be at least 8 cm in body length, and during the harvest period personnel will also be dispatched to observe and understand conditions at the main habitats; in this way, sea urchins under 8 cm can still continue to reproduce.
"We also checked with aquaculture units; sea urchins themselves are not endangered animals, and the county government will also carry out seedling breeding and release work to avoid depletion of marine resources." Xue Hong-ying said the county government has also tried cooperating with communities, hoping to designate sea urchin protected zones to facilitate ecological restoration.
Civilian groups: If the county government's approach were effective, there would be no overfishing and depletion
Regarding the county government's supporting measures, Chen Jin-chuan said, "Everyone knows about 8 cm, but if the regulations were effective, there would be no overfishing." He thoroughly questioned the actual effectiveness of the current "Sea Urchin Body Length Restrictions"; Xue Hong-ying also admitted that Penghu's coastline is too long, making actual management quite difficult, and that it likely can only rely on public reporting.
Chen Jin-chuan further said that the Penghu County Government could actually directly refer to the experience of Nago, Okinawa, Japan, where harvesting is completely prohibited in normal times, and harvesting is only allowed after ecological monitoring in the ocean shows sea urchin density reaching 5 per square meter; ecological monitoring continues in the meantime, and when the number is found to have dropped to 3, harvesting is prohibited again.
As for community cooperation, he believes that at present the residents of Wukan Village are the most united and are the most likely to actually carry out a sea urchin protected zone. "The government should hurry to take advantage of the public mood to carry out conservation; if it keeps delaying, I'm afraid it will never get done."
He also said that many fishermen oppose conservation because of their livelihoods, and more realistically, fishermen hold votes and can influence the choices of politicians; but the government should try to communicate with fishermen and try to guide fishermen toward ways more consistent with ecological maintenance and protected zones, otherwise it is merely draining the pond to catch all the fish.