Fishers and environmentalists in a contentious deadlock over a proposed ban on harvesting egg-bearing crabs prompted the Fisheries Agency on Monday to suspend discussions until late next month.
A blanket prohibition on the capture or sale of female crabs carrying fertilized eggs, eliminating a nine-month window, was proposed last month by National Chengchi University professor Cheng Tung-liao (鄭同僚).
A petition seeking stricter rules has garnered more than 5,600 signatures since it was posted on the National Development Council’s Public Policy Network Participation Platform.
Taiwan Ocean Fisheries and Sustainability Foundation chief executive officer Lin Ai-lung (林愛龍) told the panel that the meeting was overdue,