Taiwan Sand Dredging
Taiwan's outlying marine ecology damaged by Chinese sand dredging: Reports
Taipei, Taiwan: The National Academy of Marine Research (NAMR) has found that the Taiwan Banks, located southwest of the island county of Penghu, have been damaged by Chinese vessels which are dredging hundreds of millions of cubic meters of sand every year.
NAMR pointed out that because the Taiwan Banks is a shoal with an average water depth of only 20 meters, it is an excellent habitat for marine life. As a result, it is a target of Chinese sand dredging ships whose operations seriously damage the local marine ecology, the Liberty Times reported as quoted by Taiwan News.
In order to accurately gauge the severity of the damage, the NAMR sent a research ship to conduct multi-beam topographic mapping of the Taiwan Banks. It confirmed that there are obvious unnatural pits in the seabed, especially in shallow and sloped areas, the newspaper reported.
The institute said it hopes to better understand the impact of Chinese sand dredging on the marine ecology of the banks by tracking the damage over a long period of time.
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