A ban on fishing for great white sharks, megamouth sharks and basking sharks took effect on Tuesday as part of efforts to preserve biological diversity, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said on the same day.
The ban, which is applicable to all Taiwanese fishing vessels, regardless of where they operate, requires all vessels that inadvertently catch the sharks to release them back into the sea whether dead or alive, the council said in a press release.
Those who contravene the regulation would face a maximum three-year prison sentence and a fine of NT$150,000 in accordance with the Fisheries Act (漁業法), it said.
Photo courtesy of the Council of Agriculture’s Fisheries Agency
Vessels are obliged to report accidental catches of the sharks, including location and time of the catch, to local fisheries authorities within one day of returning to Taiwanese ports, the council said.
Non-compliance with the requirements would lead to fines from NT$30,000 to NT$150,000, it added.
Researchers who catch the sharks for scientific purposes would be exempt from the new rule, the council said.
Great white sharks and basking sharks are listed as a “vulnerable species” and an “endangered species” respectively by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Although megamouth sharks have since November 2018 been classified as of “least concern,” the organization suggested that Taiwan require its vessels to release accidentally caught megamouth sharks.
Taiwan in 2013 introduced requirements that catches of the three shark species be reported. At that time, such catches were legal, but vessels that were found to have failed to report them were fined NT$30,000 to NT$150,000.
A reported 34 great white sharks and 139 megamouth sharks have been caught by Taiwanese vessels since 2013.
The ban was applauded by the Taipei-based non-profit organization Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST), which has for years pushed for the protection of megamouth sharks.
EAST chief executive Shih Wu-hung (釋悟泓) said that the ban is an important decision to help preserve the shark population.
Saving megamouth sharks is of great urgency in the nation, as they between April and August migrate in the waters off Taiwan’s east coast.
Since the megamouth shark was discovered and named in 1976, only 226 of the species have been recorded around the world, with 146 of them caught off Taiwan, Shih said, adding that the government should add the species to a protected list.
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