taiwan research institute on water resources and agriculture

Changes in plant species abundance alter the multifunctionality and functional space of heathland ecosystems

Affiliations.

• 1 Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, Vienna, 1030, Austria.
• 2 Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, CSIC, Bellaterra, Catalonia, E-08193, Spain.
• 3 Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK.
• 4 Research Division III, Taiwan Research Institute on Water Resources and Agriculture (TRIWRA), 19F, No. 27-8, Section 2, Zhongzheng East Road, Tamsui District, New Taipei, 251, Taiwan.
• 5 Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.
• 6 Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt, D-60325, Germany.
• PMID: 34346089
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.17667

Though it is well established that species composition affects ecosystem function, the way in which species combine to control overall ecosystem functioning is still debated. In experimental mesocosms, we planted three functionally distinct dry-heath species in varying proportions and measured multiple ecosystem properties related to nutrient cycling and carbon storage (hereafter functions). Overall ecosystem functioning was described as the main axes of variation in ecosystem functioning (functional space) and the proportion of ecosystem functions at high levels; for example, fast carbon and nutrient cycling (cluster-based multifunctionality). The first functional space axis, related to nitrogen availability, was driven by plant species abundance, particularly that of legumes, which strongly affected many individual functions. The second, related to total plant biomass and woodiness, was mostly driven by the abundance of dwarf shrubs. Similarly, cluster-based multifunctionality was related to the initial abundance of all species, but particularly the legume. Interactions between species also affected ecosystem multifunctionality, but these effects were smaller in magnitude. These results indicate that species interactions could play a secondary role to species abundance and identity in driving the overall ecosystem functioning of heathlands, but also that axes of variation in functional space are clearly linked to plant functional composition.

Keywords: biodiversity; biodiversity-ecosystem functioning; competition; functional space; lowland heath; multifunctionality; plant species abundance; soil processes.

© 2021 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2021 New Phytologist Foundation.

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Wed, Mar 09, 2022 page13

Environmental impact assessment: dead in the water: taiwan’s long-suffering rivers, industrial, agricultural and municipal pollution has done enormous damage to riparian ecosystems.

• By Steven Crook / Contributing reporter

In Taiwan, as in other countries that have experienced rapid industrialization, one downside of development has been the degradation of its rivers.

To some extent, this has been a result of people turning their backs on the streams that watered their ancestors’ fields and the creeks where their grandmothers washed clothes. Once tap water was available, and road bridges crossed major waterways, urban residents no longer had any reason to think about rivers — unless they needed a place to dump waste that couldn’t be burned.

Industrial, agricultural and municipal pollution has done enormous damage to riparian ecosystems, or river banks. Heavy use of ammonium-based fertilizers was a factor in the decline of the freshwater Taiwan Clam (Corbicula fluminea formosa). This species was formerly so abundant that, when country folks talked of achieving two goals with one action or killing two birds with one stone, they’d say in Hoklo (the language also known as Taiwanese) “gathering clams while washing your pants in the stream.”

Lifeless riverbanks are now a feature of reconstructed sections of Sanye Creek in Tainan.

Photo: Steven Crook

Just how polluted are Taiwan’s waterways? According to the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) Department of Water Quality Protection, of the country’s 2,934km of streams and rivers, 68.1 percent were non-polluted in 2020. In the same year, 9.3 percent were lightly polluted, 19.3 percent were moderately polluted, and 3.3 percent were heavily polluted. EPA data shows very slight improvement between 2007 and 2019.

An Oct. 2018 paper in the academic journal Water examined monitoring-station data for 14 major rivers, and concluded that pollution was almost ubiquitous throughout the 2002-2016 period. Concentrations of lead exceeding the EPA standard limit were found in the Dongshan (冬山), Jhuoshuei (濁水) and Sinhuwei (新虎尾) rivers. The permissible copper level was exceeded in the Dahan (大漢), Laojie (老街) and Erren (二仁) rivers. All 14 rivers were tainted with manganese.

March 14 will be the 25th International Day of Action for Rivers. Once again, this cross-border expression of solidarity and concern will go unmarked in Taiwan.

Dahu Creek in Yilan County earlier this year, after riverside vegetation was stripped away.

Photo courtesy of Liao Kuei-hsien

Even so, plenty of Taiwanese express concern about the state of local waterways. Among them is Liao Kuei-hsien (廖桂賢), an associate professor in National Taipei University’s Graduate Institute of Urban Planning and convener of the Taiwan Rivers Network (台灣河溪網), an NGO that works to promote the protection and restoration of river health.

TREATING ‘GREY WATER’

According to Liao, pollution is one of two major challenges facing Taiwan’s rivers.

A pair of graves, left, stand isolated by revetment construction along Tainan’s Hutou Creek.

“Black water” (waste water from toilets) is almost always treated before discharge, often by septic tanks. However, she points out, what’s called “grey water” is often released untreated into streams and rivers. Because it comes from bathrooms and washing machines, grey water typically contains traces of human waste.

Liao applauds the efforts made by many local governments to increase the percentage of grey water that’s treated. However, she says, they still need to work harder to increase the rate of domestic waste water treatment.

Data from the Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency show that sewage treatment rates earlier this year in the six special municipalities ranged from 94 percent (in New Taipei) to 59 percent (in Tainan). Several local governments reported rates below 50 percent, the lowest being in Chiayi County (21.5 percent) and Taitung County (17 percent).

Activists, including local school teachers, paddle along Dahu Creek in Yilan County in 2019, before reconstruction work commenced (compare with above photo).

Sewage systems aren’t as visible as bridges or cultural venues, and “elected politicians tend to ignore this issue because it isn’t sexy,” Liao says. “The central government needs to provide greater incentives to local governments to do this, and voters need to be better educated to understand the importance of waste water treatment,” she adds.

More toxic pollution escapes from industrial sites and feedlots (buildings in which animals or poultry are raised). Waste water from those places should be treated before being released, but, as Liao points out, illegal discharges which turn streams bizarre colors still occur from time to time.

“The current fines are not a deterrent,” she explains. “In most of Taiwan’s waterways, we see the dominance of non-native, pollution-tolerant species such as tilapia, striped snakehead and Amazon sailfin catfish,” says Liao, describing the last of these as “extremely invasive.”

‘THREE SMOOTH SIDES’ ENGINEERING

Native species struggle to survive not merely due to pollution, but also because “morphological modification” — human-induced changes to the shape and direction of river channels — undermines the health of local waterways.

“In the name of flood control, or for soil and water conservation, it’s very common to see streams or smaller rivers cased fully in concrete,” she says. According to Liao, this form of river engineering — known locally as sanmianguang (三面光, “three smooth sides”) — “basically destroys the entire stream ecosystem.”

The waters, bed and banks of an unpolluted and unmodified river are likely to host amphibians such as frogs, crustaceans and mollusks, fish, and insects, as well as various plants and microorganisms. These in turn support bird and reptile populations.

Due to growing ecological awareness on the part of engineers and the public, the authorities are less likely than before to convert sections of river into fully concreted channels.

The Public Construction Commission recognizes the disadvantages of “three smooth sides” and “two smooth sides” engineering. Its Web site points out that concreted channels don’t necessarily protect nearby communities from flooding, because “all the features of natural rivers are eliminated, so floodwater velocity increases.”

What’s more, it says, they hinder ground water recharge, exacerbating Taiwan’s water shortages.

“Streams which escape being fully cased in concrete often have their natural banks turned into revetments, usually in concrete or riprap. This means the elimination of the entire riparian zone — the interface of land and water — which is very important for the stream ecosystem,” Liao says.

What’s more, she explains, modifying river banks in this way disrupts the connection between waterways and their floodplains. Very often, there’s a decrease in habitat heterogeneity and, as a result, a reduction in overall biodiversity.

Horizontal structures, like check dams built to slow water velocity and reduce erosion, “seriously impede upstream-downstream connections, affecting migration of fish and other creatures up and down the river,” says Liao.

Dams were probably a factor in the decline of the Formosan landlocked salmon. Such barriers stop fish that get washed downstream during typhoons from returning to cooler waters where they could survive, and divide populations into isolated groups, increasing the risk of inbreeding. As part of efforts to save the salmon from extinction, a handful of check dams in Shei-Pa National Park (雪霸國家公園) have been demolished.

FLOOD SAFETY

Liao says Taiwan’s larger rivers are relatively less modified in the sense that, while they are contained by levees, they have wider corridors to ensure floodwaters are carried to the sea. Floodplain zones outside the levees, however, are often heavily modified, with natural vegetation removed. Around Taipei, many floodplain areas have been converted into parking lots and sports grounds.

“To address the problem of morphological modification, the root cause — the entrenched belief that rivers must be engineered or controlled for flood safety — needs to be addressed. However, this is very difficult,” says Liao.

Liao says that flood engineering is an unsustainable approach to flood safety. Nurturing flood resilience is much more important in the face of extreme precipitation events. In the long term, she adds, we’ll have to change the flood mitigation paradigm from flood control to flood resilience.

RIVER RESTORATION MOVEMENT

In the mid-term, Liao calls for a countrywide river-restoration movement that would “restore the health of river ecosystems so they can provide multiple ecosystem services. Where necessary, we should release streams and rivers from hard structures such as revetments and flow-impeding structures. To control flooding and erosion, we can deploy ecological engineering methods and nature-based solutions instead of hard engineering.”

She says that, while the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Water Resources Agency (WRA) and local-government units claim to pay attention to ecological issues, “often their understanding of ecology is superficial.”

The Facebook group “Urban Rivers and Streams” (城鄉河溪論壇) highlighted a recent case in which a government agency botched a so-called “river improvement project.”

During the modification of part of Dahu Creek (大湖) in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山) by the WRA’s First River Management Office, a riverside vegetation belt that should have been preserved was eradicated.

It appears that preservation measures weren’t made clear in the contract and related diagrams; changes to the plan weren’t checked and confirmed with stakeholders; ecological inspection data after August last year was left blank; and records relating to the public participation phase may have been falsified.

The Dahu Creek project (budget: NT$40.7 million) is just a small part of what’s become a big industry. NT$183 million has been set aside for reconstruction of the middle and lower reaches of Sanye Creek (三爺) in Tainan. On Jan. 20 this year, United Daily News reported that work was about to begin on a section of Hutou Creek (虎頭), also in Tainan, with the first phase expected to cost NT$400 million.

A new approach to Taiwan’s waterways is possible, but only if the country’s leaders are willing to upset a few apple carts.

Steven Crook, the author or co-author of four books about Taiwan, has been following environmental issues since he arrived in the country in 1991. He drives a hybrid and carries his own chopsticks. The views expressed here are his own.

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Risk-based irrigation decision-making for the Shihmen Reservoir Irrigation District of Taiwan

• Published: 30 June 2023
• Volume 21 , pages 497–508, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

• Sheng-Fu Tsai 1 ,
• Dong-Hong Wu 2 ,
• Gwo-Hsing Yu   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0008-3500-8623 3 &
• Ke-Sheng Cheng 4  

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The Shihmen Reservoir is the most important source of water supply for domestic, industrial, and agricultural sectors in northern Taiwan. Competition for water demands among the three sectors frequently occurs. In circumstances of prolonged drought, the agricultural water supply is reduced to meet the water demands of the domestic and industrial sectors. In making irrigation decisions, several irrigation scenarios may be proposed and evaluated to reach the final decision. However, the risk of irrigation decision-making often is not fully investigated in the decision-making process. In this study, we present an innovative risk-based irrigation decision-making approach for the Shihmen Reservoir Irrigation District in northern Taiwan. The approach, by considering the initial reservoir storage and the cumulative reservoir inflow, derives the cumulative distribution function of the available volume for irrigation and then calculates the risk of irrigation shortage, defined as the probability that the available volume for irrigation is lower than the irrigation water demand. A severe drought event that occurred in 2021 was used to demonstrate the application of the proposed approach. It was found that the drought mitigation measures taken by the Irrigation Agency for the 2021 drought event ensured a very low risk of irrigation shortage.

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Irrigation Agency, Council of Agriculture

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Irrigation Agency, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC

Sheng-Fu Tsai

Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taichung City, Taiwan, ROC

Dong-Hong Wu

Taiwan Research Institute on Water Resources and Agriculture, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC

Gwo-Hsing Yu

Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering/Master Program in Statistics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

Ke-Sheng Cheng

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Tsai, SF., Wu, DH., Yu, GH. et al. Risk-based irrigation decision-making for the Shihmen Reservoir Irrigation District of Taiwan. Paddy Water Environ 21 , 497–508 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-023-00943-9

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Published : 30 June 2023

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-023-00943-9

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Sustainable agri-food systems: sustainable aqua farms in taiwan.

With more plastics in the oceans than fishes in the future, this dire prediction has highlighted the destruction of nature by the marine fishing industry. Yet, human demand for such marine products is insatiable and continues to grow. With the emergence of large developing economies and their rising middle classes, demand is set to explode. Seafood is also an important source of proteins for many consumer markets, especially island economies like Taiwan that have been catching and consuming them for millenniums. Therefore, there is a need to strike a balance and equilibrium between sustainable supply of fishes and seafood and the protection of the environment. Aside from Taiwan, the world is indeed turning to aquafarming in an attempt to conserve and save the fish stocks in the wild from being depleted. Sustainable aqua farming is seen as an antidote to this challenge. Taiwan is a leading model in East Asia in this aspect. Within Taiwan, there are best practices that are examples of ecologically friendly fish farmers. Taiwan has made tremendous progress and achievements for Taiwanese seafood output and supply in the past 25 years. Only some selected achievements will be mentioned here, a reductionist account that serves to highlight these gains. There is an entire ecosystem of aqua farmers, scientists, researchers, retailers, markets, exposition organizers, civil servants, innovators, entrepreneurs, consumers, wholesalers, industrialists/manufacturers and others who are working as stakeholders to protect the fragile natural environment. To export to other economies, global food safety standards must be maintained to ensure that there is no contamination of the fish stocks and also feed the fishes with globally accepted quality norms of the feeds used. There are individual examples of best practices in this aspect, with ecologically-conscious and environmentally-aware fish farmers, Taiwan is in a good place to capture the world’s seafood market and become a shining model for other developing economies keen to protect their natural environments.

Keywords : aquaculture, environment, Taiwan, fisheries

INTRODUCTION

With more plastics in the oceans than fishes in the future, this dire prediction has highlighted the destruction of nature by the marine fishing industry. Yet, human demand for such marine products is insatiable and continues to grow. With the emergence of large developing economies and their rising middle classes, demand is set to explode. Seafood is also an important source of proteins for many consumer markets, especially island economies like Taiwan that have been catching and consuming them for millenniums. Therefore, there is a need to strike a balance and equilibrium between sustainable supply of fishes and seafood and the protection of the environment. Aside from Taiwan, the world is indeed turning to aquafarming in an attempt to conserve and save the fish stocks in the wild from being depleted.

Yeh Shinn-Pyng from the Department of Aquaculture at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, has already argued that Taiwan has recognized the need for farmed fishes to sustainably provide proteins for increasing human populations while minimizing the environmental impacts (Yeh, Undated). It was clearly presented as an alternative to marine fish consumption. Damages to the environment came from merciless fishing in the open seas and rivers, resulting in environmental destruction and depletion of fish stocks, which eventually leads to the ruining of biodiversity.  Dynamites used for fishing have also caused immense damages to coral reefs.

Thus, sustainable aqua farming is seen as an antidote to this challenge. Taiwan is a leading model in East Asia in this aspect. Within Taiwan, there are examples of best practices of ecologically friendly fish farmers. A Taiwanese milk fish farmer in south western coastal Taiwan, Huang Guo-liang, spearheaded an ecologically-right organic fish breeding free of chemicals with an emphasis on healthy products and environmental integrity in 2011 after inheriting his family fish farm (Liang and White, 2016). Such individuals become human stories for others to learn from. They also stand as testimony of the undying love and affection that the Taiwanese people have for their natural environments.

Sustainability concern factors not only in production, but also the whole value chain to decrease the negative impacts from all forms of economic activities. There is no exception to aquatics, extracting and retailing seafood products, given “sustainable” is not mere rhetoric but signifies accountability in the entire value chain, starting from the time that a fish is taken out of the aquatic farm or maritime area with the whole procedure carried out in a manner where aquatic farm and the natural ecosystem of the water bodies or aquatic farms can sustain its vitality. Seafood consumption expanded quickly from the end of the 1990s and early 21 st century in Taiwan and the concept of sustainability, which used to be a remote term in the seafood sector where most industry players were unable to recognize its significance and the impact of overfishing or depleting stocks of marine life, needs to change with time as well (Ish and Osterblom, 2019).

In those days, environmental organization in favour of sustainable seafood were greeted with doubts and non-acceptance with the infamous 1997 cover of Seafood Business magazine noting that the seafood firms should not “crawl under the covers with greenies” (Ish and Osterblom, 2019). Since then, Taiwanese consumers have greater awareness of consumption habits, lifestyles, food safety, prevalence of product choices, as well as ecologically-correct consumption that does not add to the depletion of fish stocks, marine warming, and pollution.  (Ish and Osterblom, 2019). This has led the industry to make changes as well.

Taiwan has many different aquatic species, and milk fish is one of them. For sustainable aqua farms in Taiwan or marine fishery industry across the wide spectrum of species, the whole value chain of milk fish industry in Taiwan is changing their modus operandi. They are interacting with marine conservation groups to tackle the issue of depleted fisheries, fishing land, aquatic farms and maintenance of their productivity, especially the healthy and thriving replenish-able locations to meet their responsibilities to their clientele. There is also the issue of maintaining brand loyalty and corporate social responsibility (CSR) as well as prevention of depleted supply (Ish and Osterblom, 2019). All of these factors are absolutely essential for the Taiwanese aquatic farms and natural fishing grounds to continue thriving, given that there isn’t much use if fishing grounds are depleted and aquatic farms destroy the local community environment.

Even modest improvements can have a disproportionate impact on the environment and help fishing ground conservation and keep high standards of aquatic farm accountability to the local environment. Taiwanese companies have participated in teamwork with global industry leaders like Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS) initiative and work with the Marine Stewardship Council’s iconic blue product label currently proliferated to almost 100 locations amidst growing demand for sustainably sourced goods (Ish and Osterblom, 2019). For example, Taiwanese company FCF Co. Ltd. is a certified Marine Stewardship Council Operator. The proliferation of “sustainable” label may have to reach a critical mass when consumers become bothered by its absence in a value chain where seafood firms, aquatic farm managers, environmental organizations will expect sustainably produced seafood as a default (Ish and Osterblom, 2019).

SeaBOS changed the old practice of global seafood firms’ conventional unilateral relationship with environmental non-profit organization (NPOs) to a science-based multilateral multi-partner cooperation initiative with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the 10 biggest seafood firms to bring about leapfrog reformation in the direction of sustainable seafood production with the aim of a healthy ocean in mind (Ish and Osterblom, 2019). One of the important works of participating member companies is for them to recruit other counterparts to join the cause and also join a multi-stakeholder approach with interest groups, the scientific/research/academic community to bring about sustainable activities by collaborating with small fisheries and local communities that depend on these stocks for their livelihoods (Ish and Osterblom, 2019). Taiwan does trade with the SeaBOS’ keystone actors and are invariably influenced by their commitment to sustainability standards. 

It takes two hands to clap. Consumers must keep up their pressure on the entire value chain by consuming transparently ethically-produced seafood to support the cause. They need to make a conscious choice between ethically sourced seafood over the low-priced discounted or subsidized seafood from unknown origins so information technology (IT) can be deployed to guard the promise of accountability to sustainability through data collection, ocean management monitoring and artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms to fish optimally the most fish of the desired size, avoiding negative impact on the environment and even watch a fish progression from the sea or farm to the retail out with a QR code scan on the smartphone (Ish and Osterblom, 2019).

Taiwan’s food heritage is a combination of Min Nan, Teochew and Hokkien (also spelt Fukien or Fujian in Wades Giles or Hanyu Pinyin systems) dialect cultural traditions, spoken by seafaring marine-trading coastal dialect peoples, and is further infused into a cosmopolitan mix of Japanese culinary influences, who are also seafaring people. Therefore, seafood is an essential part of their diets. Fish and other forms of seafood are firmly integrated into the Taiwanese diet since time immemorial. Milkfish, for example, has been eaten by the Taiwanese people for hundreds of years and are integrated firmly into Taiwanese cuisines like porridge (listed by American broadcaster CNN as one of its ‘top five most recommended Taiwanese snacks’), canned form, floss type and continued innovative dishes (Yeh, Undated).

For the uninitiated, Taiwan is well-known for its snacks and small eats, both in terms of variety and volume. Taiwan is also popular for its trendy foodie culture and is recognized as one of the best food locations in the world. According to some foodies in Taiwan, the philosophy in the island is “eat often and eat well” and eating and dining can happen in any part of the day in the 20 food streets of Taipei while food evaluation and reviews are taken seriously (Wong, 2015). Eating well also means having healthy sources of proteins and other vitamins and minerals in one’s diet.

This important source of protein is becoming increasingly important to the Taiwanese and demand for seafood products are insatiable, which leads to the need for revolutionary changes in aqua farming. In the 1960s, Taiwan adopted new technologies of fry breeding and fish production as the authorities reclaimed lowland, salty land and reclaimed land along the coastal area and turned lands unsuitable for agriculture into aquaculture ponds in the 1970s and there were also Taiwanese measures that maximized the use of paddy fields, reservoirs, irrigation ponds and lakes for aquaculture during this period (Moreover, the successful Taiwanese authorities built upon a large number of irrigation ponds in locations like Taoyuan since the 1850s onwards so the experiences gained, continuity infrastructure as well as maximum use of land resources reinforced measures to develop aquaculture ponds.

Taiwanese aquafarming is divided into overland, inland (brackish waters and freshwater ponds) and marine categories as it expanded between 1970 and 1998 from 42,447 ha to 63,189 ha (118% expansion) in surface area, brackish aquafarm culture expanded from 16,738 ha in 1970 to 30,625 ha in 1992, freshwater aquafarm culture increased from 6,665 ha to 21,758 ha, marine culture expanded from 12,174 ha in 1970 to 18,832 ha in 1984 (Yeh, Undated). In this golden age of Taiwanese development in aquafarm culture between 1970 and 1998, output increased from 66,590 tons valued at NT 1.29 billion dollars (US$0.046 billion) to 255,220 tons worth NT 27.39 billion dollars (US$0.97 billion) (Yeh, Undated).

Some important policy measures have led to such developments. In the 1960s, innovative technologies of fry breeding and fish production were adopted by the Taiwanese authorities who also converted coastal lowland, salty land and reclaimed land that were unusable for agriculture into aquaculture ponds in the 1970s (including shallow sea aquaculture, blackish water ponds, fresh water ponds) (Liu, 2012). Rice paddy fields, reservoirs, irrigation ponds and lakes were also adapted for aquaculture by the authorities with sizable numbers of irrigation ponds in areas like Taoyuan (Liu, 2012) which benefitted from successive Taiwanese authorities continuation of such policies, accumulating precious policy and execution experience along the way. 

In 1998, Taiwan produced 58,350 tons of milk fish, along with tilapia, clam, oyster, eel and freshwater prawn (in that order) with eel generating the biggest value-addition at approximately NT 6.03 billion dollars (US$0.21 billion) followed by oyster, freshwater prawn, milk fish, grass prawn and abalone (in the order of value generated) (Yeh, Undated). Oysters are widely eaten in Taiwan and integrated into its iconic snacks. Oyster omelette is a combination of eggs (terrestrial farms) and oysters (a seafood) with sweet potato starch for the Q taste (a viscous starchy taste), making up a major Taiwanese culinary delight.

As an interesting comparative note, the same dish is eaten in another island economy, Singapore, which has a slightly different take on this dish in terms of cooking techniques. While the Taiwanese prefer to slap on sweet sauce and prefer to cook it to a thick viscous starchy texture, Singaporeans tend to prefer a less starchy approach and more egg-ish texture. Both are equally delicious and outstanding as dishes from island economies. Oyster Omelette with eggs was voted top snack to symbolize Taiwan in a poll of 1,000 Taiwanese by Global Views Monthly in the first half of the early 2000s (Wong, 2015).

Taiwanese cage breeders rear rapid-growth cobia, greater yellowtail, grouper, sea bream, snappers in fish cages that are proximate to the coastal areas (Yeh, Undated). Land-based recirculating water production system for eels is part of a scientific research in 1993 carried out by the Fisheries Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture (previously the Taiwan Fisheries Research Institute) (Yeh, Undated). The milk fish has become Taiwan’s most commodified fish as a versatile fish that can be consumed fresh or processed with every single fish part utilized for consumption and an important revenue generator for Taiwan and the Philippines, with Taiwan supplying a yearly output of 50,000 tons worth NT 4.1 billion dollars (US$0.14 billion) (Taiwan News Staff Reporter, 2019). In 2018, Taiwan's output for aqua farms was more than 283,000 metric tons of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other aquatic animals (Textor, 2020). According to the report by Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Taiwan produced 87.8 thousand tons of marine and coastal aquacultural production of finfish between 2003 to 2018, 283.2 thousand tonnes (live weight) of total aquacultural aquatic animals (out of which bivalves consisted of 75.8 thousand tonnes (live weight) (FAO, 2020, pp. 35-36).

All these developments represented the golden age and fast development of aquaculture farming in Taiwan. This puts Taiwan at the forefront of this form of technology in East Asia since the early 21 st century, with great potential for others to learn from. Some Taiwanese fish farmer like Huang Guo-liang argues that his micro-sized fishing practices are done with basic and fundamental precautions with the potential for scaling up if his compatriots can unite to improve seafood output quality without only focusing on volume (Liang and White, 2016). To advocate Taiwan as the Asia-Pacific fish seed supply hub and to send high quality fish seed to the region, the Fish Breeding Association (FBA) of the Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan) was established in May 1996 to optimize local marketing, external consumer market survey, augment farmer interactions, and to develop breeding methodologies (Yeh, Undated). Highly profitable as a Taiwanese export product, the growth potential of cultivated seafood products may just be at the beginning stages (a tipping point).

Taiwan has made tremendous progress and achievements for Taiwanese seafood output and supply in the past 25 years. Only some selected achievements will be mentioned here, a reductionist account here that serves to highlight these gains. Taiwan is the inaugural economy that has developed into global standards the hatchery, breeding techniques of nutritious, value-added and tasty king groupers. To this day, these remains at the cutting-edge of global fish production and even expanded to six species like the Malabar grouper, orange-spotted grouper, brown-marbled grouper, potato grouper, leopard coral grouper and giant grouper (Taiwan Today, 2009). There are also nameless individuals behind Taiwan’s world-class achievements. Liao I-Chiu’s globally cutting-edge research made Taiwan as the leading economy in grass shrimp farming and he also led to the Taiwanese development of artificial reproduction techniques of grass shrimp, mullet and milkfish (Chang, 2011). Liao’s efforts and Taiwan’s natural advantage facilitates their aqua farmers to produce 150 marine species more than any other farming economy globally (Chang, 2011). These are but a few examples of Taiwanese achievements in aquaculture.

LOBBY ASSOCIATIONS

A number of associations and lobby groups were formed to promote the seafood industry. The Taiwan Offshore Aquaculture Association was founded in August 1999 to take care of brand identification, marketing and data dissemination and, in June 1999, with the umbrella of Fisheries Administration of the Council of Agriculture, the Ornamental Production and Marketing Group and Management Committee at Pingtung was formed (Yeh, Undated). Some history and cultural buffs have even pulled their resources together to set up institutions that celebrate the iconic fishes in Taiwan. This is the greatest tribute that Taiwanese people make to their food sources. The iconic Taiwanese milkfish is curated in an Anping Taiwan specialized museum and is widely celebrated in a milkfish cultural festival in the southern Taiwanese region of Kaohsiung (Wong, 2015). In terms of non-edible ornamental fish industry, Taiwan is also churning out African cichlids, Cichlasma hybrids, goldfishes, kois, aquatic plants and marine ornamental fishes (Yeh, Undated).

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Since the late 1990s, Taiwanese stakeholders have held a very important view of environmentalism and ecological responsibility. The Taiwanese seafood scientists have been hard at work in innovating unique products like deep sea water skin cleansers, skin moisturizers and masks that are environmentally friendly and usable by consumers, international expo organizers/manufacturers/wholesalers/retailers are displaying such aquatic organism health-care products for consumer awareness, the Taiwanese authorities’ Council of Agriculture (COA) is the backer and co-organizer of international expositions for such events while liaising with reporters for publicity (Arab, 2020). Civil servants, top researchers of Fisheries Research Institute utilize cutting-edge technologies to upgrade fishing practices, produce new and innovative aquaculture products, re-used unfertilized eggs leftover from aquaculture season to produce caviar, produce algae ice cream (all of which belong to the Institute’s Seafood Technology Division’s attempt to minimize the loss during aquaculture season to save the environment) (Arab, 2020). The same institute is working with the authorities to maintain wild stocks in a sustainable aquaculture industry by coming up with the technology of artificial propagation of groupers (now the most significant aquaculture species) in 1982 and coming up with hybrid tilapias species (red tilapia, monosex male tilapia and seawater tilapia) for aquaculture (Arab, 2020). There is therefore an entire ecosystem of aqua farmers, scientists, researchers, retailers, markets, exposition organizers, civil servants, innovators, entrepreneurs, consumers, wholesalers, industrialists/manufacturers and others that are working as stakeholders to protect the fragile natural environment.

The last thing they want is to have fish farms contributing to pollution, especially to potable freshwater resources. This would defeat the purpose of avoiding marine pollution through commercial fish catches. Thus, the authorities and all industry stakeholders came up with early guidelines to ensure terrestrial fish farming is ecologically correct. In this aspect, freshwater resources are conserved and protected with the Taiwanese Water Resources Bureau’s water resources policy’s principles of: (a) Both the development and the conservation of water resources must receive equal emphasis; (b) developments of water resources must assure the preservation of the ecological system; (c) Water users must be required to pay fees and those who use excess amounts of water should pay extra (Yeh, Undated).

CONCLUDING REMARKS: THE EXTERNAL WING

In-season milk fish is tasty and full of nutrients, proteins, DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid is a building block for the human brain), calcium, and vitamins and so the Taiwanese government is marketing milkfish and its processed products to Australia and halal consumer markets in the global Muslim community (Taiwan News Staff Reporter, 2019). This is highly significant, bearing in mind there are 1.8 billion Muslims in the world who are potentially consumers of halal seafood (Diamant, 2019)! Besides marketing its products overseas, Taiwan is also investing in other economies for decades. In the earlier Taiwanese Go South policy, its aquaculture industry funded projects in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam with their highly affordable manpower and grounds (Yeh, Undated).

To export to other economies, global food safety standards must be maintained to ensure that there is no contamination of the fish stocks and also feed the fishes with globally accepted quality norms of the feeds used. There are individual examples of best practices in this aspect, for example, Taiwanese fish farmer, Huang Guo-liang, put in place sustainable aqua farming strategies growing purslane grass for keeping up nutrient doses in the peripheries of the fish farm and only gives his fishes all-natural feeds, securing high international benchmarks and certifications for food safety for global exportation (Liang and White, 2016). With such ecologically-conscious and environmentally-aware fish farmers, Taiwan is in a good place to capture the world’s seafood market and become a shining model for other developing economies that are keen to protect their natural environments.

Arab, Paula. Taiwan harvests the seas with innovative aquaculture technology. Taiwan Today, 31 January 2020. Retrieved from https://seawestnews.com/taiwan-harvests-the-seas-with-innovative-aquacul... (link is external) (31 January 2020)

Chang, Meg. Shrimp doctor pioneers Taiwan aquaculture. Taiwan Today, 11 February 2011. Retrieved from https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=6,23,45,6,6&post=10063 (link is external) (1 January 2020)

Diamant, Jeff. The countries with the 10 largest Christian populations and the 10 largest Muslim populations. Pew Research, 1 April 2019. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/01/the-countries-with-the-... (link is external) (1 April 2019)

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture Sustainability in action. FAO, 2020. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/ca9229en/ca9229en.pdf (link is external) (1 January 2021).

Ish, Teresa and Henrik Osterblom. The rising tide of sustainable seafood. Taipei Times, 23 May 2019. Retrieved from https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2019/05/23/2003715632 (link is external) (23 May 2019)

Liang, Yuan-ling (translator and compiler) and Edward White (Editor). Tainan Milkfish Farmer Paves the Way for Sustainable Aquaculture. The Lens, 25 May 2016. Retrieved from https://international.thenewslens.com/article/40455 (link is external) (1 January 2020)

Liu, Ts’ui-jung. Human Activities and Environmental Changes along Taiwan’s West Coast. Storia e Futuro Articoli Numero 29, 2012. Retrieved from http://storiaefuturo.eu/human-activities-and-environmental-changes-along... (link is external) (29 February 2021)

Taiwan News Staff Reporter. Visitors to Taiwan invited to sample island’s milkfish. Taiwan News, 14 August 2019. Retrieved from   https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3762925 (link is external) (1 Jan 2020)

Taiwan Today. Groupers help boost nation's aquaculture industry. Taiwan Today, 31 July 2009. Retrieved from https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=6,23,45,6,6&post=8625 (link is external) (1 January 2021)

Textor, C. Aquaculture production volume in Taiwan 2008-2018. Statista.com, 4 September 2020. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1088469/taiwan-aquaculture-productio... (link is external) (4 September 2020)

Wong, Maggie Hiufu. DESTINATION TAIWAN 40 of the best Taiwanese foods and drinks. CNN, 27 July 2015. Retrieved from   https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/40-taiwan-food/index.html (link is external) (27 July 2015)

Yeh, Shinn-Pyng. .The Aquaculture Status and its Sustainability in Taiwan. Aquafind.com, Undated. Retrieved from http://aquafind.com/articles/taiwan.php (link is external) (1 March 2021)

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Chinese Taipei Committee

The ICID – Chinese Taipei Committee (CTCID) joined ICID network in 1969 at the 20th International Executive Council Meeting held at Mexico City, Mexico. The objectives of the Committee are to undertake preparation for and implementation of the irrigation and drainage programme; to perform liaison service among the agencies and with the ICID; to carry out assignment as entrusted by the Government, the ICID; to render advisory service to the delegation of the CTCID to meetings in connection with ICID etc. CTCID is achieving these objectives by organising studies, experiments and scientific surveys; disseminating advanced technology and knowledge by publishing literatures, reports, documents etc.; organizing conferences/ training programmes; and attending activities supported by ICID etc.

CTCID actively participates in various technical activities of ICID and leads some of them. CTCID also provided funding support for ICID publications and organized various technical courses/ training programmes as part of the exchange of knowledge.

CTCID is located in an island region with total area of 36,000 Sq.Km, of which approximately 70% is covered by mountains which runs along the central region from north to south and thus forming a ridge for the east- and west-bound rivers and the rest 30% is plains with the elevation of 100 m or less. The population of the region is 24 million (2019) which is equivalent to about 0.3% of the total world population, with population density of 671 per Sq.Km. There are altogether 151 rivers in the region, but only nine of them possess a basin area exceeding 1,000 Sq.Km. Broad features of the region are given below briefly.

Three major land cover classes are forest (60% of land area in 1904), agricultural land (23% of land area in 1904) and grassland (12% of land area in 1904), which undergo wide variation during three distinct periods – 1904 to 1950, 1951 to 1995 and 1996-2015. The agricultural land increased from 23% to 34% in 1956. Between 1951 and 1995, the portion of built-up land increased sharply at the cost of agricultural and forested land in the vicinity of larger cities. However, the loss of forest was in turn compensated by the afforestation of grasslands. In the third period, from 1996 to 2015, 10% of the land was built-up and forested land gradually recovered to reach a peak at 67% in 2010.

Climate and rainfall

Overlying both subtropical and tropical oceanic zones and situated in the Asian monsoon region, the region features warm climate and the annual average temperature in the plain areas is as high as 22-24 o C; even the lowest temperature in a year stays above 10 o C. The rainfall in the region is approximately 2,500 mm, annually. There have been huge differences of rainfall distributions among seasons, with the highest annual total rainfall of 3,250 mm, and the lowest 1,600 mm. The region is located in the subtropical zone; most of the island enjoys hot and rainy climate throughout summer and autumn but becomes rather arid and dry from winter to spring.

Food and agriculture

The total agriculture and food production of the region is about 6.9 million tons per year from roughly 0.8 Mha of arable land. The average yearly production of each agricultural category and the respective size of cultivated areas are: Rice: 1,732,000 tons, 168,000 ha; Coarse Grain: 492,000 tons, 70,000 ha; Special Crops: 601,000 tons, 32,000 ha; Fruits: 2.7 million tons, 185,000 ha; Vegetables: 2,823,000 tons, 146,000 ha.

Water resources management

Inspite of high rainfall, the special geographical conditions, steep terrain and the uneven spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall make only 18% usable runoff. The water availability for each person is only about 4,074 m 3 . Since 1993, water resource development plans have met with strong resistance due to the growing attention to environmental concerns. Therefore, the water resources that supply the needs in the region depend crucially on the reservoirs built, at least, more than twenty years ago. The water supply and demand in the region varies according to wet and dry years. The water that cannot be used account for 16.5% while the remaining is river runoff and groundwater infiltration, which amounts to approximately 83.5%. Theoretically speaking, all the remaining water resources can be used. But the rivers are short and the stream flows rapidly, coupled with intensive rainfall and the lower capacity of saving water, thus most of the rainfall flows into the ocean.

Irrigation and drainage

Irrigation development has directly and/or indirectly contributed to the agricultural production and thereby village livelihood. It has also substantially contributed to the cycle of water resources and protection of ecological environment. Irrigation Associations are the main managing agencies for irrigation development. Currently, there are 17 Irrigation Associations in the region covering 370,000 ha of irrigated area.

Water policies

Water policy is not only related to the well-being of the people’s livelihood, but also involves the land planning, water and soil conservation, and the problem of environmental protection in the overall development of the region’s economic development. In the future, the stress is to provide good quality and quantity of water resources, shape the clean and pleasant hydrophilic environment, serve people positively, procure an organization of water conservancy with high efficiency, and attaching great importance to the rights and interest of citizens with reasonable and effective allocation of water and soil resources. For achieving these objectives, there will be need to strengthen the government departments, proper the human resource management to make full use of professional manpower, changing the water law and relevant regulations, and raise funds for water conservancy construction as along with proper water conservancy project planning.

ICID and Committee

Mr. Kuang-Ming Chuang is the President of the Committee and can be contacted at [email protected].

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Analysis on the spatiotemporal evolutions of groundwater hydrochemitry and water quality caused by over-extraction and seawater intrusion in eastern coastal china provisionally accepted.

• 1 China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The over-extraction of groundwater has resulted in seawater intrusion and the southward migration of the saltwater interface, gradually deteriorating the groundwater quality in the Weibei Plain. In this research, groundwater samples were gathered from 46 monitoring wells for shallow groundwater during the years 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021. The hydrochemical features of regional groundwater and the factors influencing the issue were subjected to statistical analysis. Additionally, the assessment of spatiotemporal variations in groundwater quality was conducted using the customized entropy-weighted water quality index (EWQI) method. The relationship between groundwater over-extraction and the southward intrusion of the saltwater interface was compared. The results of this paper revealed that the Weibei Plain has been in a state of long-term over-extraction of groundwater from 2000 to 2021, with an average annual over-extraction of 118.49 million m 3 . The groundwater depression cone areas in the northern part of the study area increased from 3247.37 km 2 to 4581.34 km 2 from 2006 to 2021, with the center of the cone experiencing a drop in groundwater level from -22m to -85m. The saltwater interface shifted southward by 711.71 km 2 from 2006 to 2021. In groundwater, the high concentrations of TH, TDS, and Cl -were primarily related to the seawater intrusion, while higher concentrations of NO3 -were mainly determined by frequent agricultural production. The groundwater hydrochemical types in the study area transitioned from predominantly HCO3•Ca-Mg type in 2006 to HCO3-Na type and SO4•Cl-Ca•Mg type in 2021 due to seawater intrusion. The results of PCA and HCA show the effects of seawater intrusion, human activities, and rock weathering on groundwater hydrochemistry. The evaluation results based on the EWQI revealed that the average value of the samples in 2021 was 101.36, which belonged to Class IV water quality standards, representing the poorest water quality among the four years. The southward migration of the saltwater interface led to the deterioration of groundwater quality in groundwater depression cone areas, which gradually worsened from 2006 to 2021. The maximum increase in EWQI value was 174.68 during the period, shifting from Class III water quality to Class V water quality.

Keywords: Seawater Intrusion, Groundwater over-extraction, Water Quality, hydrochemistry, spatiotemporal evolutions

Received: 25 Feb 2024; Accepted: 27 Mar 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Wu, Pan and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mx. Chu Wu, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China

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