Keelung waters: Tsai Fu-ning braves the sea breeze and stays up all night to catch you, enforcing the law with bold resolve to protect the ocean
"Walk the night road too often, and I'm watching you - how could I possibly not catch you?" Tsai Fu-ning, section chief of the Marine Affairs Section of the Keelung City Government, lowers her head and focuses intently as she compares the dense piles of port entry and exit records one by one with her finger, occasionally grabbing a pencil to sketch out the maritime boundaries around Badouzi Fishing Harbor on paper. The moment she hears the keyword "illegal net placement," Tsai Fu-ning raises her head with a sharp look in her eyes and begins talking about the offenders she has caught red-handed herself.
"There was one boat I surveilled for a long time. It moved by night and hid by day, and the coast guard couldn't catch it. Even when we looked at the entry and exit records, we still came up empty several times." Even late at night, lying in bed, what Tsai Fu-ning was still calculating in her head was, "Hmm... it's about to head out to sea for operations now."
It is precisely because "not catching them makes me angry" that whenever she receives a report - "Such-and-such boat is heading in this direction," "If you go to this spot at 6 a.m. tomorrow, you'll definitely catch them" - even if it means braving the sea breeze, watching the night scenery, and eating midnight snacks while standing watch all night, Tsai Fu-ning still contacts the coast guard and the security inspection station again and again, sets up cameras and aerial drones, and deploys in advance solely to trap them from both water and land. Spotting the illegal fishing boat bobbing in the distance, Tsai Fu-ning has already adjusted the camcorder's focus and zoom: "I'm just waiting for it to enter my frame, start circling, and drop its nets." Once she films the net, films the person, and films the fishing boat, the evidence is conclusive, and the matter ends with a fine being issued.
From researcher to frontline enforcer, personally taking to the sea to implement marine management
The Tsai Fu-ning before your eyes is the section chief who personally goes out on the water, directing a yacht instructor with one hand to "push the engine to 30 knots" while with the other hand pulling back the director-general of the fishermen's association, who dares not face the illegal fishermen and wants to hit the brakes, urging him, "Don't be afraid." But it is hard to imagine that she is also the Tsai Fu-ning of twenty years ago, a researcher at the Fisheries Research Institute who buried herself in studies of triploid small abalone and oysters, freeze-drying fish sperm, and even culturing bacteria and microorganisms.
"Actually, I had never had any contact with the fishing industry before." Her entry into the world of fisheries was purely because "in a differentiation lab, you have to handle a lot of chemicals." Looking at the second child in her belly, Tsai Fu-ning felt only that "this place is no place to linger," so she took the civil service exam, entered the Fisheries Agency, and then transferred to the Marine Affairs Section of the Economic Development Department of the Keelung City Government. Speaking of the primary goal of Keelung City's fisheries administration at the current stage, Tsai Fu-ning points directly to nothing other than implementing the real-name registration system for gillnets that just took effect on New Year's Day this year, as well as the ban on gillnet operations in the 500-meter nearshore waters.
News tidbit: Gillnets include "drift gillnets," "floating gillnets," and "bottom gillnets." Bottom gillnets are generally fixed to sandy seabeds or reef areas with anchors and moorings, and are hauled up when the net is lifted. If the operating area is in a reef zone, fishermen will fix the gear onto the coral reef, or even wrap it around the entire reef area. If the gear gets caught on the coral reef due to tidal currents and cannot be retrieved, fishermen will abandon it or cut the net, causing the gear to become entangled on the seabed and turn into an endless trap. Any fish, shrimp, crab, or sea turtle passing by may get stuck and die.
Gillnets are hard to manage: should they withdraw from 3 nautical miles or 500 meters?
Although she is unrelenting in punishing violations, Tsai Fu-ning has her own pragmatic thinking about "gillnets." Currently, there are a total of 127 gillnet fishing boats under Keelung City's jurisdiction, "and almost all of them are bottom gillnets." By contrast, counties and cities such as Pingtung, Penghu, Tainan, and Taitung have all separately announced restricted areas for gillnet use, and neighboring New Taipei City even announced long ago that gillnet fishing boats are prohibited from entering waters within 3 nautical miles (5,556 m); before this year, however, Keelung's gillnet fishing boats could still conduct fishing operations within 3 nautical miles using "single-layer gillnet" gear.
When surrounding waters are strictly managed, Keelung still allowed "the use of single-layer gillnets in waters within 3 nautical miles," which led neighboring fishermen to come into Keelung's waters to operate, and "single-layer gillnets" could also become a "cover." Before enforcing the law, the coast guard had to first clarify whether the gear used by fishermen was a single-layer or multi-layer gillnet, increasing the difficulty of enforcement. Once bottom gillnets are abandoned at sea, layer upon layer of "ghost nets" cover the reefs, and the coastal reef ecology of Keelung is directly harmed; therefore, the Keelung City Council unanimously passed "requesting gillnets to withdraw from 3 nautical miles," and the official document was delivered right into Tsai Fu-ning's hands.
Although among the current 127 gillnet fishing boats in Keelung, only a little over twenty still have actual operational needs, when it comes to implementing the restrictive measure of "fully withdrawing gillnets from 3 nautical miles," Tsai Fu-ning admits frankly that it will still trigger backlash from some livelihood-based fishing boats. After repeated consideration, "my goal is to protect the coral reefs." In the end, the Keelung City Government drew the operating boundary for gillnet fishing boats at 500 meters; beyond 500 meters and within 3 nautical miles (5,556 m), only "single-layer gillnets" may be used.
Tsai Fu-ning: Enforcement is to protect fishermen
To let fishermen know the rules of the game, "wherever there is a voice saying 'I don't know' or 'I'm not clear,' I will go and tell you." Tsai Fu-ning said; however, once fishermen clearly understand the rules of the game and still violate them, enforcement cannot be soft-hearted either. "If you make a mistake today, I must fine you." Yet, standing on the side of helping fishermen, "I can help you apply for installment payments, I can help you with all of that." In short, if you make a mistake, you cannot go unpunished.
Tsai Fu-ning said that insisting on enforcement is not about making trouble for fishermen: "The violators, the bad apples, are after all only a minority." But one violation may leave how many small nearshore boats unable to catch fish? Of course, in the process of enforcement, it is inevitable to encounter local influential figures coming to lobby, and all that can be done is to "let the evidence speak," directly presenting the "glorious achievements" of repeat-offending fishermen. "If you let one go, it will happen again. How long are we supposed to tolerate this?" But will the pressure from lobbying be so great that she cannot withstand it? Tsai laughs and says that no matter what, there is still the "mayor" above to hold it up. In her view, enforcement is to "protect fishermen."
"Now even fish vendors clap when they see me." Putting away the sharpness from just now when talking about illegal fishing, surveillance, and enforcement, Tsai Fu-ning's words are full of ease and gentleness: "Fish vendors say that recently small nearshore boats bringing in their catch are all very happy. Without nets interfering, they're fishing very well." Nearshore fishermen feel it, and Tsai Fu-ning feels it too.