As a result of increased costs, half of the nation’s long-distance fishing boats are now inactive and many fishermen have said that with no peak in oil prices in sight, they were preparing for the worst-case scenario, which would be the cessation of operations altogether.
Fuel contributes to more than half of a fishing boat’s operational cost, Taiwan Tuna Association chairman Huang Chao-ching (黃昭欽) said, adding that a 600 tonne boat consumes more than NT$73,000 in gasoline per day — more than payments on ship, bait and employee compensation combined.
At such rates, it is cheaper for owners to leave their ships in port than pay the NT$2 million-plus (US$66,000) they would spend on fuel for each trip, which typically runs for 20 to 30 days, Huang said.
In recent days, the nation’s major seaports have been crammed with long-journey fishing boats returned from the Pacific Ocean. Estimates made by Long-shun Fishing Company president Wang Shun-long (王順隆) showed that half of the nation’s long-distance fleet was now idle.
Rising oil prices and increasingly strict international fishing restrictions have meant that the nation’s fishing industry faces a serious risk of total fadeout, Wang said.
Pingtung County’s Liouciou Township (琉球) fishing association chief Tsai Pao-shing (蔡寶興) said that diesel prices had risen from NT$3,552 to NT$4,247 per 200 liters, which added more than NT$200,000 to every trip.
Penghu County had as many as 3,600 fishing ships in its prime, but now it has less than 2,200 ships and many have been put up for sale. Ilan County’s Nanfangao (南方澳) port, has experienced a similar decline, from 1,400 ships to less than 1,000.
Although the government introduced a fishing suspension subsidy six years ago, few fishermen had applied for the grant until about two years ago. Ships that sail for more than 90 days and dock for more than 120 days qualify for the subsidy.
Despite the annual subsidy of NT$13,000 to NT$100,000 per ship, many have opted to suspend their activities.
The agency said it expected 8,000 ships to stay in port this year.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
RSS