UK-based EJF Foundation releases global film accusing Taiwan's fishing industry of human rights exploitation and serious longline bycatch that needs improvement
"Threats at gunpoint, enslavement, dangerous work and filthy living conditions - these are just a small part of what fishing workers have to endure while working on Taiwanese fishing vessels." The UK-based Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) interviewed more than 30 fishing workers, including those on coastal, distant-water and flag-of-convenience vessels, and produced an investigative documentary exposing problems such as human rights exploitation in Taiwan's fishing industry and threats to marine ecosystems.
At a critical moment when the European Union is set to reassess whether to lift Taiwan's fishing industry yellow card, EJF Deputy CEO Max Schmid travelled specially to Taiwan and, at 5 p.m. today (the 13th), released the film globally, exposing that Taiwan's fishing industry still has problems such as fishing worker human rights and longline bycatch, in the hope that the Taiwan government can take more proactive measures.
EJF: Intermediaries lead to abuse and extremely poor treatment of fishing workers, and the flag-of-convenience vessel problem is even more serious
The documentary is set against the background of October 2016, when nine tuna longline vessels claiming to be of Bolivian nationality entered Phuket port in Thailand for repairs, but after the Thai government confirmed with the Bolivian government, it confirmed that these nine fishing vessels operated by Taiwanese people had not registered with Bolivia, so the Thai government detained them in port; the registration information of these fishing vessels showed that their operating addresses were in Kaohsiung, and some vessels changed nationality or changed vessel names. Although they did not fly the Taiwan flag, or did not fly any flag at all, six of these fishing vessels had Taiwanese people serving as captains.
EJF pointed out that these fishing workers mainly came from Indonesia and the Philippines, and they all said they had suffered varying degrees of violence, exploitation and threats. The cabins they lived in were filthy and cramped, but most of their wages were still used to pay for food, accommodation, medical examinations, transportation and so on. Working hours on board were long, the environment was both dangerous and inhumane, the work was hard and the treatment was extremely poor, and sometimes they could not receive any wages at all.
Max Schmid said that although not every captain attacks fishing workers, abuse problems occur more often on flag-of-convenience vessels; in addition, under the intermediary system regulated by the Taiwan government, fishing workers sign contracts with intermediaries, but intermediary problems emerge one after another, damaging fishing workers' rights. "The intermediaries for distant-water fishing workers leave fishing workers in debt before they even start work, and because the fishing workers are in debt, they must keep working to repay it." The government should further change this system and the content of the contracts to ensure fishing workers' rights.
