| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 海洋科技與事務研究所 === 98 === Sousa chinensis is one of marine mammals that can be frequently sighted in the coastal waters of western Taiwan. The abundance of this eastern Taiwan Strait subpopulation (EST) was estimated to be 99 individuals in 2007. This species is categorized as critically endangered (CR) in the IUCN Red list of threatened species, thus immediate measures of protection should be taken to prevent them from extinction in Taiwan. In recent years, the policy of environmental conservation has been shifted to habitat conservation instead of the previous species conservation. Because the living area of Sousa chinensis covers the coastal waters of six countries, where it also overlaps with fishing grounds and proposed reclamation zones for industrial park, the designation of this area as marine protected area (MPA) for conservation will affect the original marine use and presents a major conflict among multiple stakeholders.
This study is a qualitative research that employs semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from competing interests, including local fishery, industry, government, academia, and the conservation. Through conferring different levels of stakeholders about their feeling, views, perceptions, and response regarding the designation of MPA for conservation of Sousa chinensis, the reasons of the conflicts among stakeholders were explored and analyzed.
Results showed the main reason for the debate is that the basic information and statistic data for Sousa chinensis is not enough. It becomes a rationale of opposing the establishment of MPA since an appropriate site and size of the MPA cannot be decided based on the current uncertain information. The relation between coastal development and the size of Sousa chinensis population is still uncertain, thus it is difficult to implement the mitigation measures correspondingly. In the aspects of fishery, the reason to oppose is that the MPA may potentially overlap with the existing fishing ground. Sousa chinensis also compete the same resources with fishermen, and compensation for the loss of fishery will cost a lot. Results from this research will help to inform the design of the marine protected area for conservation of Sousa chinensis in Taiwan and to minimize the conflicts between different stakeholders.
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