The Fisheries Agency yesterday submitted a draft bill to raise the fine for illegal fishing in a bid to have the EU withdraw a “yellow card” it issued to Taiwan over illegal fishing, while legislators criticized the agency for a lack of transparency in making the amendment.
The draft bill, called Regulations on Distant Fisheries (遠洋漁業條例), and a proposed amendment to the Fisheries Act (漁業法), propose raising the maximum fine for illegal fishing, fish laundering and other significant violations to NT$30 million (US$910,470) to deter illegal activities, while subjecting repeat offenders to a NT$45 million fine.
The draft bill and amendment were submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval before being reviewed by the Legislative Yuan, with the legislation hoped to prompt the EU to withdraw a “yellow card” it issued to Taiwan in October last year following the discovery of a Taiwanese ship that violated shark finning laws in international waters.
However, in a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, legislators criticized the agency for drafting the laws in a “black box” manner and withholding information from lawmakers.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Rui-lung (賴瑞隆) said the EU gave Taiwan six months to propose improvement measures, adding that the agency has kept the Legislative Yuan in the dark about legislation progress in the past six months.
“The EU has monitored Taiwan’s fishing industry for six years, but the agency did nothing about illegal fishing during that period. After Taiwan was given a ‘yellow card,’ the agency delayed the legislation until the last minute to shift the responsibility to legislators,” Lai said, accusing the agency of negligence.
Lai said the draft bill and amendment were revealed on Friday last week during a meeting between fishing groups and local governments, adding the agency refused to give him relevant documents, despite his repeated requests.
“It has never happened before that the Legislative Yuan is totally unaware of the contents of a bill that would have such a dramatic impact. What the agency is doing is shifting the pressure onto the Legislative Yuan,” DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
Agency Director Tsay Tzu-yaw (蔡日曜) said the agency had communicated with the EU four times since October last year, adding that it would send 11 improvement measures, including the draft bill and amendments, to the EU for review by the end of this month.
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chih-ching (陳志清) said: “The EU has seen Taiwan’s actions and will not give Taiwan a ‘red card.’ We also expect the ‘yellow card’ to be withdrawn.”
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard