Taiwan and the US held discussions Thursday last week on the preservation of marine resources and the possibility of Taiwan’s participation in international fisheries organizations, the Fisheries Agency said on Saturday.
The forum, held under the Taiwan-US Fisheries Consultations, was jointly organized by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States and the American Institute in Taiwan, the agency said in a statement.
During the consultations, which were held in Taipei for the first time since 2018, the US promised to assist Taiwan in its efforts to gain international participation, while Taiwan pledged to abide by its obligations regarding international conservation of fisheries resources, the agency said.
Photo: Su Fu-nan, Taipei Times
Other issues such as climate change and cooperation between Taiwanese and US coastguards were also discussed, it said.
They also discussed recent fisheries policy developments in their respective countries, such as their efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, regulation of on-board inspections, and the transfer of catches between vessels on the high seas, the agency said.
Prior to Thursday’s consultations, US and Taiwan officials held a working meeting the previous day to discuss the potential for bilateral cooperation on an anti-IUU fishing strategy authorized by the US’ 1997 Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement Act, the agency said.
Maritime law enforcement and sharing information on managing and monitoring fisheries resources were also discussed in Wednesday’s meeting, it said.
The IUU fishing might be associated with crimes and labor abuse, while it generates a shadow economy of 26 million tonnes of fish caught annually, which had an estimated annual value of US$10 billion to US$23 billion, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said.
In 2013, Taiwan launched the National Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing by fishing vessels within its jurisdiction and on the high seas.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the Taiwanese officials at the forum invited local fishers’ associations and academics to brief the US delegation on the progress made in recent years on fishers’ labor rights and sustainable fisheries, the Fisheries Agency said.
Taiwanese officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, the Coast Guard Administration and Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the meetings, while the US was represented by officials from its Department of State, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and coastguard, the agency said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS