National Taiwan Ocean University President Lee Kuo-tien aired the view while conducting a field survey of disaster zones in the island county off the southwestern coast of Taiwan.

According to Lee, snow melt from heavy snowstorms that hit many parts of China in late January and early February flowed into China's southeastern coastal waters, which then drifted through the seas off Penghu.

Noting that the low-temperature, low-salt water flow from China impeded the Kuroshio Current, also known as the Black Stream, which usually flows around Penghu bringing warm, tropical currents northward, Lee said water temperatures in coastal Penghu consequently dropped sharply and led to a massive fish die-off in the county that depends on the fishing industry as the backbone of its economy.

In his observation, Lee said the so-called "M-type" phenomenon in socioeconomic development is also seen in meteorology, meaning that tropical regions have become ever hotter, while cold and polar regions are getting increasingly colder, just as the rich are getting richer and the poor becoming ever poorer.

"And both such climatic phenomena can affect Penghu, as it is located between tropical and colder regions," Lee said, adding that since the entire global ecosystem has changed, the so-called 30-year cycle of fishery cold disaster in Penghu could also be broken.

He suggested that an efficient alarm and monitoring system be crafted to facilitate prevention of similar disasters in future.

Lee was among a score of scholars and experts in marine ecology, coral reefs, fish species and climatic changes, as well as central government officials, who had traveled from Taiwan proper to the outlying island to study the cause of the recent disaster, the extent of damage to fishing grounds and feasible relief measures. The group was led by Chen Tien-shou, deputy director of the Fisheries Administration under the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture. Among the members were Shao Kwang-tsao, director of Academia Sinica's Research Center for Biodiversity, and National Taiwan University professors Chiu Tai-sheng and Tai Chang-feng.

In addition to inspecting the two hardest-hit regions -- Chingwan Bay and Houliao Beach -- the group held a seminar with Penghu county officials, including Magistrate Wang Chien-fa.

Cheng Ming-yuan, director of the county's Fishery Bureau, first gave a briefing on the county's fishery losses.

According to Cheng, 44 tons of dead fish had been cleared from beaches around the county in the past 10 days. "There are also numerous dead fish on the sea bed," he added.

All the academics present at the colloquium agreed that the county government need not bother to clean up the dead fish on the sea bed, saying Mother Nature will dispose of them.

A marine ecologist noted that dead fish become part of the food chain, which will in turn contribute to conservation of fishery resources.

The scholars and experts were also reserved about the county government's plan to release eels into designated coastal waters to spur rejuvenation of fish stocks, saying such moves may sabotage the delicate natural balance among fish species.

They offered many recommendations on how to forge an efficient alarm and monitoring system to prevent recurrence of any massive fishery disaster. They also presented opinions on the formulation of short-, middle- and long-term marine policy to benefit both marine resource conservation and bolster the county's economic development.

Penghu Magistrate Wang said after the meeting that Fisheries Administration Deputy Director Chen Tien-shou had promised to assist the county government in surveying damaged fishing grounds along its beautiful coastline and establishing a monitoring and tracking mechanism.