A Taiwanese fishing vessel allegedly violated shark fin harvesting laws as Coast Guard Administration officers in Hualien County on Saturday found four shark fins without their carcasses onboard the vessel.
Coast guard inspectors boarded the Kaohsiung-registered fishing boat Dong Fa Sheng at Hualien Fishing Port and found pieces of what appeared to be shark fins without any shark carcasses, according to a report by the Chinese-language Apple Daily.
Eastern Coastal Patrol Office inspector Liao Jen-jung (廖仁榮) said the boat’s captain, surnamed Lin (林), admitted to removing fins from one shark and abandoning the remainder of the shark carcass at sea before entering the port, saying that he intended to eat the fins himself.
The fins weighed 2.1kg and were delivered to the Fisheries Agency to determine whether they belonged to a protected species.
The Fisheries Agency banned shark finning in 2012, stipulating that only unprotected shark species could be harvested, but the whole shark must be retained and transported to port in its entirety.
According the the Fisheries Act (漁業法), Lin could face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a maximum fine of NT$150,000.
Greenpeace Taiwan campaigner Yen Ning (顏寧) said the alleged shark finning might not incur a heavy punishment because fishery authorities measure the severity of shark finning by the size of the ship in addition to the number of fins harvested.
The alleged shark finning might not constitute a severe violation judging by previous instances, Yen said, adding that raising fines for illegal fishing and improving law enforcement is important in the fight against shark finning.
“The maximum fine of NT$150,000 for a fishing violation has been considered too lenient,” Yen said. “The EU and many countries impose a fine of up to five times the illegal gains collected via shark finning. That is more effective in reducing the shark finning practice.”
The legislature has been reviewing the so-called “three fishery acts,” which aim to raise the maximum fine for illegal fishing activities.
The EU last year issued a “yellow card” to Taiwan over what it called the nation’s failure to enforce fishing laws following the discovery of illegal shark finning by a Taiwanese vessel in international waters.
The alleged shark finning by the crew of the Dong Fa Sheng would not have a direct bearing on Taiwan’s attempt to remove the EU yellow card, because the EU warning was focused on the practice of long-distance fishing fleets rather than coastal fishing vessels like the Dong Fa Sheng, Yen said.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
RSS