During a recent question-and-answer session in the legislature, Council of Agriculture Minister Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) said that the EU is not happy about a draft deep sea fishing act that is about to be submitted to the legislature.
Tsao said the EU feels that the fines are too light and that the bloc is certain to issue a “red card” to Taiwan.
If this is true, it will be a major blow to the export of Taiwanese aquatic products to the EU and other nations. All fishermen would have to suffer because a small number of fishing boat owners violate the law and put pressure on the government, while law enforcement is slack. This is utterly unfair and it will cause a strong backlash once aquatic exports to the union is banned.
Just like Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines have also received “yellow cards” from the EU, but their government officials took the warning seriously and immediately went into crisis management mode and resolutely adopted necessary measures.
The measures include sharp increases in penalties for engaging in illegal fishing activities, treating major offenders as criminals and requiring that fishing boats install vessel monitoring and an electronic catch reporting systems. Feeling that South Korea and the Philippines have taken responsible action by amending their laws and taking an active approach to clamping down on illegal fishing, the EU has withdrawn its “yellow card.”
Taiwan, and the Fisheries Agency in particular, has taken the “yellow card” too lightly. To avoid being issued a “red card,” fisheries authorities proposed raising the fines for breaking the law from between NT$30,000 and NT$600,000 (US$923 and US$18,460) to between NT$2 million and NT$30 million. However, that was criticized by deep-sea fishing boat owners as being too much and not adhering to the proportionality principle. Following manipulations by a few legislators, the proposed amendment entered the party negotiation process after a consensus could not be reached during legislative review and was temporarily put on hold.
Unlike other nations, Taiwan’s fisheries officials demanded that legislators add a counseling or grace period. As the EU gains better knowledge of this information, it is very possible that there will be further punishment.
Taiwan’s deep-sea fishing companies possess great assets and mainly employ foreign crew, so they provide few job opportunities to Taiwanese fishermen. Although their production value reaches NT$43.8 billion, that does not make a substantial contribution to GDP.
Greenpeace has openly accused Taiwan’s deep-sea fishing fleet of frequently engaging in human trafficking and abusing crew members. Every year, the government invests huge sums of money to the development of the nation’s deep-sea fishing fleet, while accepting criticism and punishment because a few deep-sea fishing boats engage in illegal fishing activities to make exorbitant profits. Unfortunately, the officials in charge seem unable to change.
To remove the “yellow card,” the government should amend the law and impose more severe punishment on illegal fishing activities, which are carried out by a small number of fishermen. More importantly, it must show a conviction to curb illegal fishing activities. By raising the stakes for illegal fishing, fishermen are less likely to think that they can get away with it.
Fisheries authorities tend to be too lenient when cracking down on illegal activities. As such, international marine conservation groups have criticized Taiwanese authorities for rarely translating words into deeds. Often, the government hides behind the excuse that it cares for fishing boat owners while turning a blind eye to their wrongdoings. The EU, as a result, had to observe what the Taiwanese government was actually doing rather than simply trusting what it says.
Taiwan might not be the worst offender, but fisheries authorities’ reluctance to address issues raised by the international community shows that the nation only wants to cover up its mistakes. Without seriously cracking down on illegal fishing and establishing communication with environmental groups, simply revising fishery regulations would not allay the EU.
The government must take concrete action to address the problems, otherwise a “red card” would be inevitable. Should that happen, someone in President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration will have to take the blame.
While the global community has turned its attention from fishing to marine conservation for better management of fishery resources, the Taiwanese government is still obsessed with fish catch volumes and world rankings.
The problems facing Taiwan’s fishery industry are significantly different from those facing the agriculture sector. Hopefully, the fishery crisis will alert the government to the need to improve the nation’s fisheries management and prompt it to find the right people to do the right thing in the right place, before it is too late.
Du Yu is chief executive officer of the Chen-Li Task Force for Agricultural Reform.
Translated by Perry Svensson and Tu Yu-an
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