I went diving on Green Island in February 2006 and was struck by the lack of sealife. I assumed that in the summer things would be better. I can now say definitively that it is not. The only fish left in Taiwan are those small enough to swim through a net. It's disappointing to see overfishing on this scale, and I'm not convinced anyone will wake up in time to save what is left.
Lanyu (Orchid Island) is the larger but lesser-known of the two inhabited islands off the Southeast coast of Taiwan. Six of us went down for a three-day weekend to see what it was all about. There are no direct flights into either Green Island or Orchid Island. One must fly to Taitung and then either take a 25 minute flight on a turboprop or a ferry. It is a 1.5 hour ferry ride to Green Island and 3 hours to Orchid Island. We took the flight, arriving at 1:30 on Saturday. It was too late to schedule any diving, so we had lunch and rode scooters around the island. The island itself is beautiful, with lush green mountains and a rocky coast. That same rocky coast makes for great visibility when diving, with little silt or runoff to cloud the water.
The first dive we did on Sunday morning was a shore dive with a nice swim-though cavern. I bought a new underwater camera housing and flash so I took pictures of almost anything trying to get it dialed in. The other four members of our group are not certified and did an introductory dive, with varying results. Sunny and her boyfriend Pity went first, with Pity being a natural. Michelle had problems equalizing, and Iris took a while to get comfortable. We went back to the guest house for lunch and Vera and I got ready for our afternoon boat dives, during which I got thoroughly sunburned.
The dive sites themselves were fantastic. Nice hard and soft corals, interesting geography, a good combination of pinnacles, walls, and a few wrecks although we didn't have time to do any wreck diving. Unfortunately, the sea life is so depleted that there isn't much to see other than small reef fish, and I think my photos demonstrate that. Taiwan really needs to set up a massive no fishing zone around Green Island and Orchid Island if they ever want to attract foreign tourists. With no fishing, it will still take 10-15 years to recover. Even if they did, who knows if they would enforce a ban? As we returned to port, a local fishing boat was returning. They had caught maybe a dozen fish big enough to sell, and 2 dozen that were undersized. Rather than throw the small fish back, they kept them to eat themselves. No wonder.
Your photos are always so beautiful!! I enjoy them so. I understand congrats. are in order for you and Vera. May God give you 51 years+ as we have had.
Love,
Auntie Mae
Posted by: auntie Mae | July 19, 2007 at 08:11 PM
Marine biologist Jeng Ming-shiou told me the sad story of An-an, a very friendly (and big) ocean eel that became a favorite with the tourists in green island. Eventually, the fish became such a big hit that pictures of "An-an" and stories regarding its whereabouts made the papers.
"As soon as the newspapers came out, the fish was taken," said Jeng, "how much did that fisherman get for An-an? One thousand NT? Two thousand?"
Here's an article I wrote about Jeng's call to preserve sea life in Green Island.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/05/11/2003360366
Another anecdote that didn't make it into the article: Jeng met a Japanese guy who was investigating green island as a tourism destination for his (japanese) company, but as soon as he saw the restaurants touting coral reef fish, he said "we can't come here."
What they're doing now, eating all the little fish, is nothing more than eating the goose that lays the golden egg.
Posted by: battlepanda | July 24, 2007 at 09:57 AM
It's sad because they don't realize what they are doing. Taiwan is actively hunting whale sharks, which are far more valuable as a tourist draw than for the fins. Every time I go to the coast it's the same thing; they could have a major tourist draw, but they'd rather get the easy $$ now.
Posted by: Michael Wheeler | July 25, 2007 at 12:58 AM
Maybe the Tau are suppose to go to 7-11 to buy their food? They have been living there thousands of years and live off the sea. Maybe the illegal fishing by the PRC fishing vessels might have something to do with the lack of fish or could be the nuclear waste at the SE end of the island that was dumped there by the KMT boys. The Pacific was colonized by this race of people---the solution---put a 7-11 on the island that sells tofu fish!! Barry
Posted by: barry martin | January 22, 2008 at 10:22 AM