WETLANDS IN
TAIWAN 10

POSTER-1

THE AQUATIC BIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF CHI-GUAW LAGOON AND ITS IMPLICATION ON FUTURE MANAGEMENT

Lee-shing Fang1 and Jiang-ping Wang2

  1. Preparatory Office, National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium

  2. National Chen-Kong University

Chi-guaw lagoon is 1,455 hectare in size and 1.5 meter in depth. It is one of the largest remaining lagoon which was formed by river deposit along the coast of Taiwan. We have studied the fish, crustacean, plankton and fish larva in this waters to gain a general understanding of the ecology of lagoons in this subtropical area. A few economical important shrimp and crab species seem can complete their life cycle there. On the other hand, heavy fishery pressure mainly by set nets and oyster culture has already put great influence on the eco-system. Industrialization is also proposed by reclaim land from the lagoon. The future management of this wetland is discussed under these various consideration.

  1. Fishes in the lagoon : A total of 105 fish species were recorded.

The abundance in the northern area is less than that of the South.

  1. Crustacean in the lagoon : There were 50 species of crustacean recorded in the lagoon and from its surrounding intertidal zone. Shrimps are dominant in number, crabs are abundant in species.
  1. Phytoplankton in the lagoon : There are 67 diatoms and 3 dinoflagellates species recorded. Diatoms are the most dominant group of phytoplankton.
  1. Zooplankton in the lagoon : Calanoida（哲水藻）, crab zoea and Noctiluca（夜光蟲）are the most dominant and abundant zooplanktons in the lagoon. There are quite a lot of shrimp larva, fish larva and fish eggs.
  2. Fish larva in the lagoon : Eighty-five species of fish larva were collected. Forty-eight percent is economic important species. Even some middle water fishes such as Myctophidae(4.69%) were present in the lagoon.
  3. Overall evaluation : Chi-guaw lagoon is a very life-rich, somewhat polluted, yet heavily fishinged water. Its biology is mainly influenced by the water channels from the open sea. On the other hand, human activity and inflow creeks also modify the marine life communities greatly.
  4. Future management strategy : Chi-guaw lagoon is a highly fishery used area yet with important ecological status.

It is proposed that eco-tourism with controlled development and limited visitor number will bring this precious wet-land sustainable utilization as well as economical profit.

Top

BACK