TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Environmental groups on Wednesday accused government-backed development projects at Taichung Port of endangering the habitat of the critically endangered Taiwanese white dolphin, warning that continued land reclamation could cause irreversible damage to the marine ecosystem.
The groups said large-scale projects are transforming the coastline and seabed in an underhanded fashion, allowing them to escape public scrutiny and environmental impact assessments. Such activity is threatening one of the most important habitats for the Taiwanese white dolphin, also known as the Formosan Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, per a press release.
Kuo Chia-wen (郭佳雯), a researcher with the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, said the dolphins are among the world's most endangered cetaceans and the only cetacean subspecies named after Taiwan. Fewer than 50 are believed to remain, with the population confined to waters off Taiwan's west coast.
Kuo said long-term surveys have identified the waters surrounding Taichung Port as a key feeding ground and nursery area. However, expanding port facilities, land reclamation, offshore wind projects, and submarine pipeline construction have created mounting cumulative pressures on the dolphins' habitat.
She criticized recent development projects undertaken by Taichung Port, Taipower, and CPC, arguing they have been divided into separate projects that avoid comprehensive environmental review. She also questioned why reclamation has continued in ecologically sensitive waters without updated surveys documenting the dolphins' presence.
Ting Hsiao-wen (丁小雯), executive secretary of Matsu's Fish Conservation Alliance, said dolphins have been recorded near Taichung Port on five occasions over the past two years, exhibiting behaviors including feeding, socializing, resting, and caring for their young. She said the findings demonstrate the harbor is not merely a shipping corridor but an essential habitat for the endangered species.
Ting noted the area lies between the Gaomei Wetlands Nature Reserve (高美濕地自然保護區) and the Dadu River Wildlife Reserve (大肚溪口野生動物保護區), arguing the government should prioritize conservation rather than continued industrial development.
Hsu Hsin-hsin (許心欣), executive director of the Government Watch Alliance, said Taichung Port serves as a critical habitat and migration corridor for the dolphins. Since 2020, however, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of Economic Affairs have advanced multiple development projects in the area, including additional reclamation and new docking facilities for CPC and Taipower, per the press release.
Hsu said the cumulative impact has reduced the dolphins' available habitat around Taichung Port by about one-fifth. She added that the government's increasing use of construction waste as fill material poses greater environmental risks than traditional sediment reclamation.
Liao Mei-ya (廖梅雅), executive director of the Society of Wilderness, said the dolphins' habitat stretches along Taiwan's west coast from Taoyuan to Tainan, with the waters around Taichung Port among the most important.
She warned that reclamation conducted without comprehensive environmental impact assessments could permanently damage marine ecosystems, while habitat fragmentation further threatens the survival of an already critically endangered population.
Changhua County Environmental Protection Alliance researcher Lin Cheng-han (林政翰) accused the MOTC and the Taichung Port Authority of avoiding environmental impact assessments by classifying reclamation as work conducted “within the breakwater.” Lin said the reclamation work calls for up to 1.05 million tonnes of recycled aggregate, including incinerator bottom ash and steel slag, to be used as fill material.
According to Lin, prolonged exposure of such materials to seawater could increase the release of heavy metals, dioxins, and other contaminants, allowing pollutants to accumulate in marine ecosystems and potentially enter the food chain through bioaccumulation. He noted that European countries have prohibited the dumping of incinerator ash and similar industrial waste into the sea under the Oslo Convention.
