A law regulating free diving is needed to protect public safety and the environment, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said on Wednesday in a call on the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Tourism Bureau to take legislative action.
Chao made the comment at a news conference in the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
In response, the bureau said that officials have completed a draft and scheduled it for discussion with the public and outside agencies on Aug. 15, with the goal of passing the law by the end of the year.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Freediving Development Association
Taiwan is experiencing a surge of interest in free diving, which brings vast business opportunities and challenges for the government to keep divers safe and the oceans unpolluted, Chao said.
Regulations Governing Water Recreation Activities (水域遊憩活動管理辦法) narrowly defines diving activities as diving with the aid of snorkels or scuba gear, leaving free diving entirely unregulated, he said.
The government should fill the regulatory gap, he said.
For-profit water sports are obligated to provide mandatory liability insurance according to the Act for the Development of Tourism (展觀光條例), but only one-third of Taiwanese diving instructors are insured, he said.
The lack of regulations put amateur enthusiasts at risk, as they might misjudge their skill level, stamina or weather, while diving tour groups sometimes behave badly around protected reefs, Pingtung Professional Union of Diving Instructors chairman Chan Hao-yu (詹皓宇) said.
Unskilled tourists often cause harm by trampling on coral, and tour groups are known to get into protected waters or sea lanes reserved for commercial fishing boats, he said.
Self-employed diving instructors qualify for insurance policies, which are carried by two domestic insurance companies, said Ting Yu-sheng (丁豫聖), a member of the Non-Life Insurance Association of the Republic of China.
The bureau has completed a draft and it anticipates that modifications would be made following discussions with officials, experts and the industry, bureau section chief Lin Hsiu-hsia (林秀霞) said.
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