The Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA) issued a statement on Friday condemning Greenpeace activists for boarding a Taiwanese fishing boat in the South Pacific earlier this week to check for illegal catch.
The statement said that the Pingtung-based 98-tonne Niensheng No. 3 was on the open seas north of the Solomon Islands on April 21 when Greenpeace activists interrupted its operations, using a 2,000-tonne vessel equipped with a helicopter.
The Greenpeace activists, after circling the Taiwanese ship for nearly an hour aboard a yacht, demanded permission to board to check whether there was any illegal shark fin harvest or excessive tuna fishing.
“The Ninensheng skipper had no choice but to accede to the request by the Greenpeace activists,” the statement said, adding that although the activists did not find any evidence of irregularities after a thorough inspection that included photographing, they continued to trail the Taiwanese ship for six to seven hours after they returned to their own yacht.
The activists did not stop the chase until after the Taiwanese ship entered the Solomon Islands’ exclusive economic zone, the statement said.
According to the International Marine Law, when a vessel is operating on the open seas, it is under the jurisdiction of the country with which it registered or the country to which its skipper belongs.
As the Niensheng No. 3 was fishing on the open seas, the statement said, its skipper could have legally rejected the Greenpeace activists’ demand for shipboard inspection, inquiry or law enforcement.
Stressing that the Niensheng No. 3 is high on the list of vessels permitted to fish in the region by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the statement argued that Greenpeace activists’ forced shipboard check, without the Taiwan government’s approval, was in stark violation of Taiwan’s legal jurisdiction and International Law.
“We strongly protest the Greenpeace activists’ action,” the statement said.
The incident marked the first time a Taiwanese boat was subjected to Greenpeace’s forced shipboard inspections on the open seas.
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