Taiwanese-owned fishing fleets are some of the worst offenders of overfishing and illegal activities in the Pacific Ocean, representatives from Greenpeace and the Environmental and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) said in Taipei yesterday.
If the current rate of fishing is not substantially reduced, stocks of Pacific Tuna — one of the world’s most overfished species — are expected to be near extinction in three to five years, they said, calling on the government to support international conservation measures, close some areas to fishing and crack down on illegal fishing at the upcoming annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Tahiti next month.
The WCPFC — of which Taiwan is a full member — manages and regulates fish stocks in the Pacific Ocean.
Greenpeace representatives said yesterday that in an eight-week investigation undertaken by their vessel, the Esperanza, they documented seven vessels operated by Taiwanese companies engaging in illegal fishing, fish transferring or fishing in vulnerable areas.
Fish transferring is a problem because some vessels catch fish in areas where it is prohibited and then transfer the catch to ships that have fishing licenses for other areas, they said.
“Taiwan’s fishing fleets are out of control,” said Sari Tolvanen, an official at Greenpeace. “It is the worst [perpetrator] of illegal activities in the [Pacific Ocean].”
She said the Taiwanese government must take immediate measures to control the activities not only Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessels but also those registered under other countries but owned by Taiwanese companies.
Greenpeace says Taiwanese fishing vessels account for about 10 percent of the total tuna catch in the Pacific Ocean. They said that amount must be reduced by 50 percent to ensure sustainability for both fishing stocks and the fishing community.
Officials from EAST said Taiwan’s fishing fleet capacity — at 2,500 vessels — far exceeds economically viable and sustainable catches of tuna, adding that the government was more concerned about the fishing industry than the environment or sustainability.
At a separate setting yesterday, Fisheries Agency Director-General James Sha (沙志一) said the reports of illegal activities undertaken by Taiwanese vessels would be investigated.
Sha said that if the reports were found to be true, the agency would likely revoke the licenses of those vessels.
He also said that as an NGO, Greenpeace had no jurisdiction over the vessels. Ships sailing in international waters generally remain under the jurisdiction of the flag state.
Officials from the agency said the government prioritizes tuna conservation, including increased monitoring and reporting of Taiwanese-flagged vessels, adding that the agency is committed to long-term sustainability of fishing stocks and subsequently the fishing industry.
Tolvanen said Greenpeace and EAST have set up an exhibition titled “Netting up the Pacific” at the Dunnan branch of Eslite Book Store in Taipei that runs through next Sunday.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS