The captain of a Taiwanese fishing boat detained by the Philippines for 18 months returned to Taiwan yesterday.
Upon arrival at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, Huang Chi-huang (
On the way to Tungkang, Huang said that on April 15 last year, he sailed to the Philippines to pick up a Filipino crew to fish for black tuna in the Pacific, but was detained by the Philippine authorities.
Huang dismissed as "rubbish" reports that he was poaching in Philippine waters.
He expressed his gratitude toward all those who had assisted him over the past 18 months in securing his release, especially the Republic of China mission in Manila.
Huang said that one Taiwanese and three Chinese crewmen were detained along with him, but the Taiwanese and two of the Chinese were able to escape after they boarded another detained Taiwanese ship that was swept out of Abali Port in northern Luzon Province during a typhoon earlier this year.
Huang said that he will try to secure the release of the remaining Chinese fisherman and added that captain Hung Hsin-san (
Earlier in Manila, Taiwanese representative to the Philippines saw Huang off at the airport.
Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, said that from the experiences of Huang and other detained fishermen, it is evident that the lives, property and human rights of Taiwan fishermen must be ensured.
Wu said that his office will do everything possible to promote fishery cooperation between Taiwan and the Philippines, and will seek to find a lasting solution to fishery disputes between the two countries.
Many Pingtung fishing boats have cooperated with the private Philippine fishing sector through brokerage houses to allow them to operate in waters overlapping the economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines. Should a Taiwanese vessel be detained by the Philippine authorities, the Taiwanese shipowner and the brokerage house should each pay half the fine for the ship's release.
The period from mid-April through mid-July is a peak season for black tuna, whose firm, meaty flesh is a costly delicacy. During the season, hundreds of Taiwan fishing vessels, mostly from Pingtung and Kaohsiung, operate in fishing grounds that overlap the economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines near the Bashi Channel and the Philippine Sea.
Philippine fishery authorities began to pay close attention to Taiwanese fishing boats last year after some Pingtung fishermen made a fortune from black tuna sales the previous year.
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