There is a free hot water service, so why are foreign fishing workers still taking hardship showers on their boats? Social worker: The Fisheries Agency should set up a communication platform to face the problem

As a cold snap hits, the wind blows bitterly cold by the fishing harbor. Most of the foreign fishing workers on coastal and offshore vessels who live aboard their boats can only boil water with cooking equipment on board, making showers extremely rough. Yet over the past three years, the Fisheries Agency has subsidized fishermen's associations to add washing facilities. As long as a boat owner applies for a "shower card," foreign fishing workers can use them free of charge, but the usage rate is less than 10%.

When reporters actually visited Nanfang'ao Fishing Harbor, they found that information among the three parties - foreign fishing workers, boat owners, and fishermen's associations - differs so much that misunderstandings easily arise. Chung Chia-ling, director of the Rerum Novarum Center of the Jesuit Taipei office, an advocacy group for fishing workers' rights, said that showers are only one part of the problem. The working environment of foreign fishing workers at the fishing harbor is a whole set of issues, involving not only employers and fishing workers but also brokers, and the Fisheries Agency needs to establish a platform to gather different opinions so that effective improvements can be found.

Foreign fishing worker: Of course I want a hot shower when the weather is cold, but if I have to pay, I give up

On New Year's Eve in 2020, rain fell continuously at Nanfang'ao Fishing Harbor under the northeast monsoon. In a quiet alley behind the Mazu Temple at Nantian Temple, the center of worship in Nanfang'ao, there is a mosque hidden in a private residence. It was purchased and converted into a simple mosque by the Muslim Association to serve the more than one thousand Indonesian fishing workers in Nanfang'ao, becoming the center of faith for Indonesian fishing workers there. Many Indonesian migrant workers from factories on Su'ao Street and from Yilan come to this mosque to pray.

Reporters visited Indonesian fishing workers at the mosque. An Indonesian fishing worker named Adou, who knows a little Taiwanese, said: "I know the fishing harbor has a bathhouse, but I don't have a card, and the (shower) card costs money. If showers cost money, foreign workers won't go; and the location is too far, so everyone would rather take care of it on the boat. Small fishing boats don't have water heaters but they do have gas stoves, so they just boil hot water on board to bathe."

Adi next to him speaks Mandarin. After asking the reporter to explain the issue slowly, he added: "If you can take a hot shower in winter, of course that's great! But if it costs money, no one will go. If the hot shower is free, of course everyone wants to go."

Fishermen's association: The government subsidizes the installation of bathhouses to guarantee fishing workers "free use"

In response to foreign fishing workers saying that "hot showers require payment," Tsai Yuan-lung, chairman of the Su'ao Fishermen's Association, said that over the past three years, because the Council of Agriculture has allocated funds to subsidize fishing harbors to improve fishery facilities and the fishing harbor environment, every fishing harbor has added washrooms, and each boat can apply for three cards. Crew members do not need to pay to shower. However, if a card is lost, a replacement must be paid for with a cost fee of 150 yuan, but showers are free.

Tsai Yuan-lung stressed that the fishermen's association absorbs the cost of hot water itself. It is only because management was lacking in the past that equipment was easily damaged, or people did not turn off the hot water after use. Worried about wasting hot water, they installed sensor cards to facilitate management and to know which boat's employees came to use the facility.

Su'ao Fishermen's Association: Fewer than 10% of fishing boats have applied for shower cards

Reporters found on the ground that most fishing workers do not know the fishermen's association provides free hot water, resulting in low current usage of the fishing harbor washrooms, while fishing workers on small boats still take hardship showers on board.

Chang Yu-cheng of the Market Management Section of the Su'ao District Fishermen's Association, which is responsible for managing the washrooms, said: "The washrooms set up by the fishermen's association are provided free of charge. However, the application rate is indeed not high at present. Only 8 or 90 cards have been issued so far." Converted, that is fewer than 30 boats, less than 10% of the number of boats at Nanfang'ao Fishing Harbor. "We have sent documents to all boat owners notifying them to apply for cards, but not many boats have come to apply," Chang Yu-cheng explained.

As for fishing workers saying the bathhouse is too far from the fishing boats, Chang Yu-cheng disagreed: "Fishing workers all have transportation in the harbor area, usually bicycles or electric scooters. A distance of one or two kilometers should not be a problem."

Boat owners: The fishermen's association lacks outreach, so people do not know the service is provided; the bathhouse is too far, which also lowers fishing workers' willingness to use it

After fishing boats dock, the daily care and logistical support for foreign fishing workers is often handled with the help of captains' wives. One captain's wife, A-e, brought up how boat families deal with foreign fishing workers' washing:

"Nanfang'ao Harbor is large. The bathroom is installed on the outer side near the Third Harbor Area, while many small boats are moored here at the Second Harbor Area on Neipi Road. Small boats have crude equipment and lack water heaters, and the distance is a bit far, so foreign workers are not necessarily willing to walk over. Most washing is taken care of on the boat. In winter, some large boats are equipped with water heaters, while small boats boil water on board with gas stoves to bathe. Boat owners of course care about foreign workers. If it is very cold in winter, they will ask foreign workers to shower at home, but some foreign workers feel awkward and still prefer to take care of it on the boat."

Boat owner's wife: The fishermen's association lacks outreach, so people do not know the service is provided

A-e also mentioned the practical considerations behind boat owners not applying for shower cards. Besides the bathhouse being far away and fishing workers not necessarily being willing, she admitted that foreign workers sometimes do not cherish items much, and losing cards would also be troublesome. Life on a boat is originally more about making do, so as long as things can be handled simply on board, boat families do not worry about so many details.

A-e suggested: "The fishermen's association could perhaps add washrooms at Nan'an, Neipi, or Nanning Road. After all, some temples or communities are public spaces, so foreign workers could shower nearby without having to go so far. Adding bathhouses requires the fishermen's association to be willing to bear the management burden. The key is mutual understanding!"

A-e stressed that the vast majority of boat owners want to take good care of foreign workers, because if fishing workers are healthy, their work efficiency will also be better. However, she also admitted, "Many fishing boat captains do not even know the fishermen's association provides free washroom service! So even she has not gone to apply for a card."

"Just sending documents is not necessarily useful! Many older captains are illiterate and toss official documents aside when they see them." A-e believes the fishermen's association should strengthen outreach, since many boat families still do not know.

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