The skipper of a Taiwanese fishing boat urged local fishermen to shy away from waters near the northernmost island of the Philippines to avoid being detained.
Chou-Huang Ke-sheng (
The 43.75-tonne Haihung was on its way home when a 450-tonne white Philippine vessel began chasing it around 11am Monday, Chou-Huang said.
The Haihung lost contact with the Pingtung Fishery Association-operated radio station at one point and didn't resume contact until 8pm on Monday.
Chou-Huang said the Philippine vessel had opened fire but didn't hit his boat during the hot pursuit.
"My boat managed to escape the Philippine vessel mainly because it made an emergency detour from the Philippine island," he said.
According to the skipper, the Philippine vessel was manned by customs officers.
Many Pingtung fishing boats have cooperated with the private Philippine fishing sector through brokerage houses in order to operate in waters which overlap the economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines.
If a Taiwanese fishing boat is detained by Philippine authorities, the Taiwanese shipowner and the brokerage house each pay for half of the fine for the ship's release.
Those which have not joined the cooperative project have to pay the fines on their own.
The period from mid-April through mid-July is the peak season for catching Black Tuna.
During the season, hundreds of fishing boats from Pingtung and Kaohsiung operate in fishing grounds which overlap the economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines near the Bashi Channel and the Philippine Sea.
Philippine fishing authorities have begun to pay close attention to Taiwanese fishing boats ever since some Pingtung fishermen made a fortune from sales of their Black Tuna catches last year, fishery sources said.
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