Fri, Apr 29, 2016 page3

• Fishermen demand help on oil spill

  ‘RIDICULOUS’: Fishermen say the TS Lines oil spill had destroyed their livelihoods. The Fisheries Agency said it had filed claims, but fishermen were unaware of this

  • By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
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  Scores of fishermen from New Taipei City’s Shimen (石門), Jinshan (金山) and Wanli (萬里) districts gathered at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday to petition the government to seek compensation for them from a freight company after oil spilled from a grounded ship belonging to the company damaged the fishing industry and environment.

  A TS Lines Co cargo ship ran aground on a shallow reef about 250m offshore from Shimen on March 10, and several hundred tonnes of crude oil and lubricating oil have spilled from the ship since the ship split on March 24, while dozens of tonnes of lubricating oil still remain onboard.

  The protesters criticized the government over what they called its slow emergency response and delayed oil removal operations, while demanding the government represent them and local businesses to seek compensation from the shipping company, instead of making them go through a prolonged legal process.

  

  Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo, third right, and New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang, fifth right, yesterday join a group of fishermen in a news conference in Taipei to demand that the freight company TS Lines Co compensate the fishermen for the oil spill caused by its cargo ship that went aground off northern Taiwan last month.

  Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

  “Fish catches have decreased significantly since the oil spill, and fishermen have difficulty selling their catch as consumers are concerned about the effect of pollution,” Fuji Fishing Harbor delegate Chang Ching-piao (張錦標) said.

  What fishermen care most about is when the spill can be removed and when the area can be restored, while they fear that vessel dismantling would pollute the sea again, Chang said.

  The oil spill has seriously affected sulfuric fire fishing, a traditional technique involving lighting a fire to attract fish, which has been recognized as a cultural heritage by the New Taipei City Government.

  Chien Wen-jung (簡文隆), who owns one of only four fishing vessels that still practice sulfuric fire fishing, said the waters between Shimen and Wanli are the most important fishing area for sulfuric fire fishing, and their daily catch used to be between 700 and 800 jin (600g) last year, but now they cannot catch any fish.

  The pollution also threatens the livelihood of “sea women,” female freedivers who collect aquatic products, they said.

  Fishermen and local businesses said losses in fishery resources and tourism cannot be easily estimated and proven, demanding the government help them collect evidence and seek compensation.

  Fisheries Agency Fisheries Regulation Division Director Shih Chun-yi (施俊毅) said the agency has commissioned local fishermen associations to help fishermen file compensation claims, and 31 claims have already been filed.

  The agency has requested National Taiwan Ocean University to conduct an ecological survey to assess the scope and severity of the pollution to serve as grounds for future compensation claims, Shih said.

  However, fishermen said they had not been contacted by fishermen associations and did not know the agency provided assistance, criticizing the agency’s perceived indifference and bureaucratic attitude.

  “The government has not yet set up a task force to help and communicate with fishermen since the incident, and fishermen could not get anyone to help them, which is ridiculous,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said.

  The Environmental Protection Administration said it expects to finish removing oil on board the vessel by Tuesday next week and oil from the coast by May 10, promising the ship would not be dismantled until all the oil on board is removed.
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