Endangered endemic salmon species faces new ecological threats

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 20, 2006. It reports that the Formosan landlocked salmon, an endangered species endemic to Taiwan, is now facing new ecological threats because of environmental changes in its natural habitat - the Sheipa National Park.

The Formosan landlocked salmon is one of the rarest fish in the world. It is a subspecies of the Cherry salmon. The salmon became landlocked since the last Ice Age, during the glacial epoch in frigid mountain streams. The discovery of this salmon in Taiwan, a subtropical island, has been seen a miracle in the history of biology.

Despite the government's comprehensive and intensive conservation efforts, the number of the Formosan landlocked salmon, in the Chichiawan Stream in the upper stretches of the Tachia River and the lower reaches of the Wuling Stream in central Taiwan's mountainous regions, has been declining in recent years. According to officials from the Sheipa Naitonal Park, the decline results primarily from climatic changes and environmental pollution in the salmon's native habitat.

Officials from the Sheipa National Park explain that frequent typhoons and summer storms are affecting water levels in the rivers where the Formosan landlocked salmon lives, which leads to a lower breeding rate. Meanwhile, Taiwan's central mountains are also prone to forest fires, which can easily change the ecological balance in the region.

Finally, fruit and vegetable growers in the nearby Wuling Farm used pesticides in the past, which can still cause water pollution today. Since 1999, officials from the Sheipa National Park have negotiated with Wuling farmers and reclaimed some farmland for reforestation. But fruit and vegetable farms still occupy 40 hectares of land in the region.

Another potential threat to the survival of the rare salmon is the establishment of sand traps in the Tachia River to prevent downstream silting. This is because sand traps often prevent adult salmons from returning to their native habitat to breed and spawn.