The captain of a fishing boat on Thursday said that the Fisheries Agency had responded too slowly after his vessel was seized by Philippine authorities.
Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), a fisherman based in Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) who returned to Taiwan on Wednesday after the incident on Monday, told reporters that the agency failed to immediately notify the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) of the incident.
Instead, Fisheries Agency personnel called his mother and asked whether he had contacted home, Chen said.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public
After learning that he had not, they reportedly told her: “No worries,” Chen said.
“They did make multiple phone calls to us, but they did not tell us what had happened until we asked them directly,” Chen’s daughter said.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight, when the Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) was operating in the southern part of an overlapping fishing zone between Taiwan and the Philippines, but outside the Philippines’ contiguous zone — 24 nautical miles (44.4km) off its coast, Chen said.
Twelve armed men boarded the vessel without warning and dragged Chen and his crew onto the deck “like dogs,” he said.
His crew did not resist, as there was no way to communicate with the officials, but the Philippine authorities “acted like Somalian pirates,” he said, adding that they confiscated his catch and personal belongings — losses he estimated at NT$300,000.
The ship was intercepted 91 nautical miles southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, Fisheries Agency records showed.
Action was only taken after Chen’s family contacted Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸), who urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene, Chen said.
The Philippine side agreed to release the boat, crew and captain on Monday afternoon after the CGA dispatched a ship to negotiate, with Chen returning to Taiwan on Wednesday morning.
Chen said he had experienced a similar incident several years ago, but the CGA had responded quicker at that time.
The Fisheries Agency was slow to respond on Monday, he said, accusing it of not immediately notifying the CGA.
Chen’s family said the actions of Philippine officials contravened the 2015 Agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters signed by Taipei and Manila.
The agreement calls for avoiding the use of violence or unnecessary force, and notifying the other party before law enforcement actions.
The protocols were not followed, the family said.
The Fisheries Agency said in a statement that the Fisheries Monitoring Center attempted to contact Chen immediately.
When there was no response, the agency called his family to ask if they had heard from him and informed them that it had also requested assistance from the ministry, it said.
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