The coast guard yesterday boarded a Chinese fishing boat and detained 17 crew for allegedly illegally harvesting fish and ramming a patrol vessel, the Hsinchu-based Flotilla 12 of the Coast Guard Administration said yesterday.
The PP-10088 encountered a Chinese vessel dredging fish in Taiwanese waters during a routine patrol of a restricted zone in the flotilla’s area of responsibility, flotilla commander Tseng Chun-yu (曾俊瑜) said.
Dredging is illegal in Taiwan due to it being harmful to the environment.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The Chinese boat, identified as the Minyu 612, refused orders to cease and instead accelerated to flee the area, ramming the coast guard patrol boat in the process, he said.
The boat was equipped with improvised armor and deliberately aimed at the patrol vessel’s pilot house, Tseng said.
A spokesperson for the flotilla did not explain how the Chinese vessel was subdued, but said that the PP-10088 had to request backup to tow the fishing boat after sustaining damage to its pilot house and hull.
The coast guard confiscated several tonnes of fish in the boat’s hold, they said.
The captain of the Chinese boat denied intentionally ramming the coast guard patrol boat and said that the anti-boarding devices installed on his vessel were for normal fishing operations, the spokesperson said.
Incursions by Chinese boats are expected to surge in the coming weeks as China’s pause in the fishing season has ended, they said, adding that there had been a spike of illegal fishing activities in the same period last year.
Since 2017, the CGA has expelled intruding Chinese fishing vessels 14,690 times, captured 485 boats and 326 of them had been fined a total of NT$350 million (US$10.85 million), the spokesperson said.
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