Taipei: More than 100 people traveled to Caisancho Island, Taiwan's largest offshore shoal, on Tuesday to help protect it from erosion by building sand-trapping structures from discarded oyster racks.
According to Focus Taiwan, the project was organized by the Chiayi County Environmental Protection Bureau and involved more than 100 staff members and volunteers who traveled by recreational fishing boats to Caisancho Island. The island is a roughly 1,000-hectare shoal located about 10 kilometers off the coast of Dongshi Township in Chiayi County. The participants aimed to carry out sand-conservation work to combat erosion.
The team reused abandoned bamboo oyster racks, oyster shells, and other marine debris to build square-shaped sand-trapping structures, which were anchored to the shoal. The bureau reported on Wednesday that the team completed three square structures, each measuring 3 meters in length and width, utilizing about 300 discarded oyster racks.
The project was a collaborative effort with the Water Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, receiving technical guidance from the Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory at National Cheng Kung University. Chang Hui-chuan, director of the Chiayi County Environmental Protection Bureau, highlighted the threat of erosion to the shoal due to extreme weather and a declining sediment supply.
Caisancho Island functions as a natural buffer protecting the coastlines of Chiayi and Yunlin counties from wind and waves, stabilizing the shoreline, and providing a habitat for marine life. Chang emphasized that the government has been actively working in recent years to prevent the shoal from shrinking further.
Chang noted that the campaign is a practical effort to shield Taiwan's coastline from climate change impacts. Lin Chun-ju, a division chief at the Chiayi County Environmental Protection Bureau, stated that the campaign exemplifies the principles of a circular economy by transforming discarded marine debris into structures that aid in combating sand erosion.