[Mike]

Fish die-off in Taiwan
Fishy deaths on Green Island still under investigation

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008, Page 2
The deaths of a large amount of coral and deep sea fish off the coast of Green Island over the past month remains a mystery, members of a special team in charge of the probe said yesterday.

The special team was formed by the Eastern Coastal Patrol Office, the Taitung County Government’s fishery office and the Lutao township office, after residents on Green Island, better known locally as Lutao, reported waves of dead fish being swept ashore daily, beginning on Dec. 21.

To date, no definitive cause for the massive die-off has been identified.

Seeking answers, the team will conduct further toxicity tests on sea water taken from the beach where dead fish have been found, research team members said.

It has been established that the deaths were not caused by illegal fishing and that many of the fish had empty stomachs when they died.

The findings have added to the mystery following laboratory tests that failed to find harmful bacteria in tissue samples taken from the suddenly stricken fish.

Green Island, off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, has never experienced such a massive fish die-off, Lutao Township chief Chen Chia-wen said.

At first, island residents would pick up the fish, mostly from valuable species such as groupers and parrot fish, and take them home to eat, but stopped doing so after the dead fish continued to wash ashore, Chen said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/01/09/2003396325