Although 99 percent of the local fishermen feel that the sharp decline in marine birds on and around Maoyu is due to the fact that the military uses the island for artillery testing, some foreign birdwatchers feel that blasting limits the number of people who frequent the island.
雖然附近漁民有百分之九十以上認為，貓嶼的海鳥銳減，和國軍以該島為砲靶有關，但是，國外也曾經有些鳥類專家認為，砲轟有鳥的島嶼，可阻遏人跡到達，減少可能的人為干擾，其中的得失還無定論。