Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessels have once again been accused of shark finning and killing vulnerable marine animals, and migrant crew members have complained of frequent physical violence, the UK-based Environmental Justice Foundation said in a report earlier this week.
Following its report about illegal activities on the Fuh Sheng No. 11 (福甡11號) published in September, the foundation on Wednesday released another investigative report about five other fishing vessels flying the Republic of China flag or owned by Taiwanese.
The crew on all five boats have said they were ordered to remove shark fins and throw the rest of the animals overboard, the foundation said, adding that some were also asked to illegally catch dolphins and use their meat as shark bait.
It also released a nine-minute film, titled Slaughter at Sea: Dolphins, Turtles and Sharks: Illegal Fishing on Taiwanese Longliners, featuring interviews with the migrant crew members in Indonesia last month.
They would spear or electrocute dolphins swimming alongside boats, as the animals’ blood attracts sharks, a crew member said in the film.
When they caught a turtle, they usually released it “unless the captain asked for turtle’s tail,” given its purported medicinal effects, a fisher said.
To evade inspections by Taiwanese officials, captains ordered the crew to hide shark fins at the bottom of freezers and cover them with other fish, the foundation said.
Many crew members also reported physical violence and debt bondage, it added.
“These illegal, unsustainable and brutally cruel activities are being enabled by the Taiwanese authorities’ failure to act,” foundation executive director Steve Trent said, urging Taiwan to end the abuses, and create legal, sustainable and ethical fisheries.
Photographs and footage provided by the foundation do not show any specific vessels, and the testimonies of the migrant crew are difficult to confirm, the Fisheries Agency said on Wednesday, but added that it would probe the matter.
Since the Act for Distant Water Fisheries (遠洋漁業條例) took effect last year, the agency has tightened regulation of the industry and issued fines, it said, calling on environmental groups to affirm that most Taiwanese fishers obey the law.
Management of Taiwan’s distant-sea fishing fleets is a thorny issue for the government, as heavy fines for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities have triggered a protest by fishers last month, the largest-ever so far.
Some consider the heavy punishments to be one of the factors that contributed to the Democratic Progressive Party’s losses in the Nov. 24 elections.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS