Fishermen say recent fines levied by the government are excessive. NGOs say they are not harsh enough.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/07
By: Nick Aspinwall

Credit: Nick Aspinwall

Taiwanese fishermen protested outside the Fisheries Agency (FA) on Tuesday afternoon before marching to the Legislative Yuan building, armed with airhorns and matching caps, after what they say is an unnecessarily harsh crackdown on their heavily scrutinized industry.

Media reports and nongovernmental organizations have criticized Taiwan’s vessel owners and captains for repeated instances of illegal fishing and human rights abuses of crew members, most of whom are migrant workers from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Over a thousand vessel owners, captains and fishermen and their families bused to Taipei for the event. (Taiwan’s foreign deep sea crew members usually do not set foot in Taiwan, instead disembarking from vessels in third countries and flying home.) Some came from the eastern port town of Su’ao and the northern Ryukyu Islands, but most traveled from Donggang, Taiwan’s largest deep-sea port in southern Pingtung County.
[FULL  STORY]