The Dongsha Ocean and Lagoons Abandoned Fishnet Cleansing Operation took place on September 19th. Staffs from Dongsha Management from Marine National Park Headquarters and other departments spent 2 hours, cleaning up to 100 kilograms of large abandoned fishnet around the coast. After the lagoons recovered, fishes finally came back to their habitats.

The ocean around Dongsha Island has a large scale of sea grass bed and beaches that consist coral sand. They provide habitats and abundant food sources for marine creatures to live and breed. The 1000-hectare sea grass bed is an ideal birthplace for lemon sharks to breed. It is suitable for lemon shark breeding. There is a small lagoon in Dongsha Island that has an opening connects to the atoll lagoon. In spring, adult sharks can be found migrating to the sea grass bed. During high tide, young sharks enter the sea grass bed for food. It is easy to observe them on the west side of Dongsha Island.

Dongsha Island’s lagoon is located in the atoll, which forms a geographical barrier. However, low pressure that often occurs in South China Sea might develop into into tropical depression or typhoon. When the typhoon approaches, it usually carries large abandoned fishnets and stakes to the island lagoon. This year, several large abandoned fishnets had been washed up to Dongsha Island due to tropical depressions. Therefore, the headquarters held the operation before the 2019 International Coastal Cleanup in September.