When President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) gave a speech at the premiere of the documentary Taiwan to the World a few days ago, he lightheartedly bemoaned the fact that nobody has come up with the second half of a couplet to finish the first phrase he made three years ago about Pacific saury and how the fish delighted fishermen. Perhaps a more pressing matter is when Ma’s promise of Taiwan’s maritime development will be fulfilled.
The 21st century belongs to the oceans, and nations around the world are rushing to expand their maritime infrastructure and development. China even invented the concept of a maritime silk road for the 21st century. While China and the US are contending for dominance over the sea, Taiwan is nowhere to be seen.
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) suggested that Taiwan’s future would be based on maritime development. Eight years later, Ma said that Taiwan’s prosperity would be built upon maritime development. Now 14 years have passed, and there is still no intergovernmental agency integration of maritime-related affairs, namely between the Fisheries Agency, the Environmental Protection Administration and the Coast Guard Administration.
The most important maritime scientific research departments fall under the purview of different agencies — the Fisheries Research Institute is run by the Council of Agriculture and research vessel Ocean Researcher V was administered by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
There is no ministry that is exclusively in charge of maritime affairs. Therefore, when there is a dispute with Japan or China over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), disputes with China over its so-called “nine-dash line” or disputes with countries over exclusive economic zones, things get very awkward.
There is an abundance of energy, minerals and fishery resources in the sea. On land, resources and space are limited and polluted, so the marine economy has become the driving force for global economic growth, of which the output value exceeds US$2 trillion. The total output value of the marine economy is increasing at an average annual rate of 11 percent, and by 2020 the output value is expected to reach US$3 trillion. Currently, 61 percent of global economic output value is intimately related with ocean and coastal output.
As a result, advanced countries are actively seeking to develop their marine economy, each exploiting their own strengths. For example, the Japanese government is emphasizing Japan’s development on ports, shipping, coastal and maritime tourism, ocean fisheries, sea oil and natural gas industries, which account for 70 percent of total output value. Other maritime development includes marine engineering, shipbuilding, the production and laying of submarine communications cables, mineral exploration, seafood and marine pharmacognosy — searching for medically useful marine organisms — which shows Japan’s ambition to become a major maritime nation.
China has been busy with expanding its marine economy; its total maritime output in 2013 surpassed 5.4 trillion yuan (US$864.4 billion), accounting for nearly 10 percent of its GDP.
In contrast, despite the fact that Taiwanese leaders keep emphasizing the importance of prioritizing maritime development over land development, the government still cannot come up with comprehensive and consistent data on the marine economy.
For example, data for the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors and the added value of the fishing industry are missing. Nor has it established a value chain for the marine economy or an industrial database, both of which can be used for precise academic research or as a reference for policymaking. There are no concrete developmental focus areas.
Even the most important area of all, scientific research, lacks consolidation. Although the government claims that Taiwan’s marine economy output has surpassed 5 percent of GDP, the nation is still many nautical miles away from being a true maritime nation.
To use the marine economy as the driving force for new economic growth, thereby turning itself into a maritime nation, Taiwan has to find its own niche.
For example, the ocean fishery industry is Taiwan’s second-best maritime industry. Taiwan is surrounded by ocean. It enjoys abundant fishery resources and excels at fish farming, all of which give it an advantage to develop ocean fish farming and mariculture, from which fishermen could comfortably fish in the nation’s own waters.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Taiwan’s peculiar advantage is lost due to a history of overfishing and pollution. The key factor behind the nation’s deteriorating fishery industry is that regardless of whether the pan-blue or the pan-green camp is in power, authorities regard fisheries as an accessory to agriculture. Their only aim is to avoid big mistakes. And, whenever applicable, the fishing industry is used to attract votes during an election season.
The authorities have ignored changes in the global fishing industry — from focusing on offshore fisheries to inshore fisheries and fish farming — and, as a consequence, Taiwan’s fishing industry has declined and its fishing villages are economically depressed. However, these matters are never taken seriously. And so, Taiwan is still just an island nation.
If maritime development and fisheries are treated in such a way, what can be expected of other industries? People from outside the fishing industry only care about where the Council of Ocean Affairs fits in, and care little about effective integration of talent cultivation and positions.
The dream of basing Taiwan’s future on maritime development is destined to be just a dream. If next year’s presidential wannabes still want to include maritime development in their campaigns, they should apply their mind to the cause of problems in marine affairs and fisheries.
Du Yu is chief executive officer of the Chen-Li Task Force for Agricultural Reform.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
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