Taiwan was yesterday removed from the EU’s list of uncooperative nations in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, with the “yellow card” warning it placed on the nation in 2015 removed, the Council of Agriculture said.
The council has introduced measures including pushing legislation of the three deep-ocean fishery laws; improving the surveillance and control systems targeting deep-sea fisheries, such as installing electronic fishing logs; launching a 24/7 fishing boat surveillance center; and establishing an ocean fisheries database, it said.
The council has partnered with nations that have a close relationship with Taiwan in terms of fisheries to tackle IUU fishing, as well as improved its compliance with legal parameters defined by international organizations, it said, adding that the good news represented the culmination of all these efforts.
Photo: screen grab from Facebook
The European Commission placed the yellow card on the nation on Oct. 1, 2015, and declared it an uncooperative nation in the fight against IUU fishing.
Both President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) took to Facebook to inform the public of the news.
“We have succeeded in protecting seafood exports, which have an annual worth of more than NT$40 billion [US$1.29 billion],” Tsai wrote on Facebook.
The yellow card had caused the nation’s deep-sea fisheries to be sanctioned by the international community, which inhibited growth, she wrote.
Some international trading companies had been reluctant to buy Taiwan’s seafood out of concern that the nation might be given a “red card,” which caused the fishing industry to slump, she added.
Thankfully, through the collaborative effort of fishers, fishery associations, unions, exporters and the government, Taiwan’s management of its fishing activities have been consistently improving, the president wrote.
“Usually, I only report to the public when something has happened, but today is different. I want to tell you: It’s a-OK,” Su wrote on Facebook.
“Deep-sea seafood that is worth more than NT$40 billion will continue to be sold to every part of the world,” he wrote.
With such a handsome profit, it would be unthinkable if Taiwan were handed a red card by the EU, the premier wrote.
Thanks to streamlined communication with fishers and fishing associations nationwide, legislation and the government’s increased efforts to monitor deep-sea fishing, Taiwan has finally been removed from the watch list, he wrote.
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