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Successful Restoration of Taiwan's Formosan Landlocked Salmon Wild Population Numbers Reached 15,000, Another Record High

  • Last edited date:2023-04-17

The Shei-Pa National Park Headquarters announced the results of the 2022 Formosan landlocked salmon wild population research and monitoring project. The total number of monitored wild salmon reached around 15,374, a record high. In addition to the stable population in the basins of Cijiawan Creek and Hehuan Creek—which are the main distribution areas of the salmon population, signs of activity have been observed in other creeks such as Luoyewei Creek, Yousheng Creek, Nanhu Creek, and Bilu Creek, indicating that the salmon population has been able to grow robustly and reproduce itself in the wild.

Taiwan's Formosan landlocked salmon population has successfully expanded to the upper tributaries of the Dajia River and the range of its habitat has reached 80% of that in the 1970s. Looking back to when the restoration efforts began in 1995, there were only a little over 200 salmon recorded in the wild, a historical low. But after years of efforts, the number of restored fish has increased by 60 times, which is a testament to the efforts of all sectors in conserving this "national treasure fish".