As a result of increased costs, half of the nation’s long-distance fishing boats are now inactive and many fishermen have said that with no peak in oil prices in sight, they were preparing for the worst-case scenario, which would be the cessation of operations altogether.
Fuel contributes to more than half of a fishing boat’s operational cost, Taiwan Tuna Association chairman Huang Chao-ching (黃昭欽) said, adding that a 600 tonne boat consumes more than NT$73,000 in gasoline per day — more than payments on ship, bait and employee compensation combined.
At such rates, it is cheaper for owners to leave their ships in port than pay the NT$2 million-plus (US$66,000) they would spend on fuel for each trip, which typically runs for 20 to 30 days, Huang said.
In recent days, the nation’s major seaports have been crammed with long-journey fishing boats returned from the Pacific Ocean. Estimates made by Long-shun Fishing Company president Wang Shun-long (王順隆) showed that half of the nation’s long-distance fleet was now idle.
Rising oil prices and increasingly strict international fishing restrictions have meant that the nation’s fishing industry faces a serious risk of total fadeout, Wang said.
Pingtung County’s Liouciou Township (琉球) fishing association chief Tsai Pao-shing (蔡寶興) said that diesel prices had risen from NT$3,552 to NT$4,247 per 200 liters, which added more than NT$200,000 to every trip.
Penghu County had as many as 3,600 fishing ships in its prime, but now it has less than 2,200 ships and many have been put up for sale. Ilan County’s Nanfangao (南方澳) port, has experienced a similar decline, from 1,400 ships to less than 1,000.
Although the government introduced a fishing suspension subsidy six years ago, few fishermen had applied for the grant until about two years ago. Ships that sail for more than 90 days and dock for more than 120 days qualify for the subsidy.
Despite the annual subsidy of NT$13,000 to NT$100,000 per ship, many have opted to suspend their activities.
The agency said it expected 8,000 ships to stay in port this year.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS