A deficient coastal radar system and its high rate of disrepair have affected the Coast Guard Administration’s ability to deter smuggling and illegal fishing, a Control Yuan report said.
According to the report compiled by members of a Control Yuan committee, Liu Te-hsun (劉德勳) and Chen Hsiao-hung (陳小紅), the administration had installed a vessel traffic monitoring system from 2001 to 2003 to monitor all naval traffic within 12 nautical miles (22km) of the nation’s coastline.
The system is remotely operated and all information is uploaded to a command center for analysis, the administration said, adding that the system reduced the number of personnel needed to patrol the coast.
However, the report showed that the foreign manufacturer contracted to build the system halted production of related equipment in 2007 and the number of core components in the system that are malfunctioning have exceeded 51 percent, with no available components to swap out.
The debilitation of the system has affected the administration’s operational effectiveness, the report said, citing increases in illegal fishing, use of depth charges when fishing and electrocuting or poisoning fish across the nation as an example.
When the system was installed 15 years ago, the number of cases related to fish smuggling had been as high as 50 to 60 percent, the Control Yuan said, adding that in recent years it has dropped to about 20 percent.
The statistics are direct evidence that the dilapidated equipment is pulling the administration down instead of helping it, the report concluded.
In response, the administration said that it is planning to install several radar systems in ports and harbors to decrease the blind spots in radar coverage, adding that pending the results, it might increase the number of systems to improve the surveillance of fishing boat activities.
The report said that the administration is 10 percent below its full personnel capacity, calling on the Executive Yuan to allocate more personnel so the administrations duties are not hindered.
According to the 2014 National Audit Office budget report, the administration should have 2,643 personnel, but it only has 2,353.
The administration said it has asked for an increase of 509 people, but the Executive Yuan only approved an increase of 231.
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