The Fisheries Agency has reiterated that it plans to increase penalties for illegal fishing, amid concerns about a warning from the EU and the threat of possibile sanctions.
“The agency will revise the Fisheries Act (漁業法) to step up penalties,” Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Tsay Tzu-yaw (蔡日曜) said, adding that it also wants to increase its inspection personnel.
“The agency will complete communications and negotiations with the EU before the six-month deadline given for improvement, in the hope that Taiwan can be removed from the ‘yellow card’ list,” he said.
The EU issued a “yellow card” to Taiwan on Oct. 1, warning that it risks being identified as an uncooperative nation in the fight against “illegal, unreported and unregulated [IUU]” fishing.
It said there were “serious shortcomings in the fisheries legal framework, a system of sanctions that does not deter IUU fishing and lack of effective monitoring, control and surveillance of the long-distance fleet.”
The EU thinks that Taiwan’s fines for illegal fishing are too low compared with those imposed in Japan and South Korea, Tsay said.
At the core of the warning is a Taiwanese fishing vessel, the Shuen De Ching No. 888, which was caught with illegally harvested shark fins near Papua New Guinea in early September. The ship was fined NT$150,000 and its catch was confiscated.
The EU could consider trade sanctions on fishery imports from Taiwan if the identified shortcomings are not addressed.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS