Snorkelers manually count 16,000 Formosan salmon
Snorkelers manually count 16,000 Formosan salmon
2026-09-01
The population of Formosan landlocked salmon once dwindled to only a couple hundred, putting the precious endemic species on the brink of extinction. After 30 years of restoration efforts, there are now more than 16,000. But do you know how the salmon are counted? Most people probably don’t realize they’re actually counted one by one by snorkelers!
Staff working to rehabilitate Formosan landlocked salmon traverse a mountainside, climbing across craggy cliffs to reach their natural habitat: Qijiawan Creek. They then strap on their snorkeling gear and dip into the water to search for fish.
The divers shout out numbers for the people on shore to record. Fish counting is best between June and September, when the water temperature in Qijiawan Creek hovers around 15 to 18 degrees. The snorkelers crawl along the riverbed, holding on tight with both hands in an intense display of physical stamina.
Liao Lin-yen
Formosan Landlocked Salmon Ecology Center director
We do a visual snorkeling survey for the annual population count. For this, three people go out together: two snorkeling in the water to tally the small, medium, and large salmon and ascertain their health, who then call out the data to a counter on the shore.
But as the water flows around them and fish swim by, how do they get an accurate count?
Liao Lin-yen
Formosan Landlocked Salmon Ecology Center director
These deep pools are actually prime hotspots for salmon, allowing us to calculate the numbers very accurately.
Working in teams of three, the group chooses deeper pools where the fish tend to gather to ensure a more accurate count. Beyond understanding fish behavior, there’s another trick to counting: they can avoid missing or double-counting fish by moving upstream rather than downstream. Going from near extinction with only a couple hundred fish to today’s 16,000 is a hard-won achievement. To ensure continued success, the center also called on farmers to use less pesticides and fertilizer to help protect the country’s precious endemic species.
#fish #salmon #Formosanlandlockedsalmon #fishcounter #ecology #conservation #snorkeling #QijiawanCreek
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數量怎麼算? 櫻花鉤吻鮭達1.6萬尾人工浮潛目視”數魚"
2026-09-01
國寶魚櫻花鉤吻鮭，曾經一度只剩兩百多尾，瀕臨絕種，經過三十年復育工作，目前已經有超過一萬六千尾，但是您知道嗎？這些櫻花鉤吻鮭是怎麼計算出來的？多數人一定不曉得，其實真的是靠人工浮潛在水中，一尾一尾算出來的！
櫻花鉤吻鮭復育工作人員，翻山越嶺，攀爬岩壁，來到櫻花鉤吻鮭的棲地—七家灣溪。工作人員穿戴好潛水裝備，下水尋找魚兒的身影。
有人潛水報數，有人負責記錄，每年六到九月，七家灣溪水溫度，攝氏15到18度，最適合安排數魚。只見工作人員，雙手交替在河床上移動，以類似匍匐前進的動作往前，這完完全全是體力活啊！
[[櫻花鉤吻鮭復育中心主任 廖林彥]]
“每年的計算的方法，是用浮潛目視法，那方法主要就是三個人為一組，兩個人潛到水裡面，去計算鮭魚的大中小，以及評量牠健康的狀況，然後將這樣數據，報給岸上記錄的人員”
只是水在流，魚也在游動，要怎麼精準計算數量呢？
[[櫻花鉤吻鮭復育中心主任 廖林彥]]
“那這深潭區呢，其實都是鮭魚主要生長的熱點，可以讓我們很準確地計算出來”
三人一組，數魚的區域挑選深潭區，也是鮭魚聚集的熱區，增加準確度。除了掌握魚兒習性，計數時也有撇步，從下游往上游移動，避免漏算或重複算。從瀕臨絕種兩百多尾，到現在數量高達一萬六千尾，這成果得來不易，復育中心也呼籲附近農民，減少使用農藥以及肥料，避免破壞國寶魚的生長環境。
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