The number of ports open to public fishing in the nation is to increase to 100, up from 50 last year, the Executive Yuan has announced.
The Enforcement Rules of the Fishing Port Act (漁港法施行細則) separates the nation’s ports into two categories.
Category 1 ports are those that are larger than 100,000m2; have unloading docks, replenishment facilities, processing plants, and repair and maintenance facilities; are easily accessed and can accommodate 100 100-tonne vessels; see more than 20,000 tonnes of fish brought in per year; and berth 50 100-tonne fishing vessels registered to Taiwan.
All of the remaining ports are category 2 ports.
Five of the nine category 1 ports — Wushih Harbor (烏石漁港) in Yilan County, the Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) in Keelung, the Hsinchu Fishing Harbor (新竹漁港) and Anping Harbor (安平漁港) in Tainan, and Yenpu Harbor (鹽埔漁港) in Pingtung County — have been open to public fishing since last year.
The other category 1 ports do not allow public fishing because they do not have independent breakwaters, the Executive Yuan said.
Before the announced changes, 58 of 215 category 2 ports were open to public fishing.
The Jhuwei (竹圍漁港) and Yungan (永安漁港) ports in Taoyuan; Jiangjun Port (將軍漁港) in Tainan; the Sinhu (新湖), Fuguodun (復國墩) and Lotsuo (羅厝) ports in Kinmen County (金門); and Fugang Port (富岡漁港) in Taitung County would allow members of the public to fish by the end of this year, the Executive Yuan said.
The Ocean Affairs Council set the goal of expanding the number to 100 ports, Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) said.
The Executive Yuan is considering allowing more marine sports and activities to be held in ports, such as snorkeling, canoeing, surfing, sailing and jet skiing, Chang said.
To promote more seaside activities, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has encouraged departments and ministries to propose policies for a “Saluting the Sea” program.
Policies proposed so far include cleaning up ocean waste, opening ports to the public for fishing, and an increased number of activities both on the water and on shore.
Although fishers have opposed the policy of allowing public fishing in ports, the government is promoting the policy, while preventing it from affecting those who fish for a living.
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