Indonesian fishermen accuse Taiwan, China fishing boats of abuse for fun, exploitation of marine resources, and beheading false killer whales as trophies; Fisheries Agency: will strengthen investigations

Although Taiwan, China's distant-water fishing industry had its yellow card warning lifted by the EU last year, the problems of illegal fishing and fishermen's issues have still not been thoroughly improved. The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) spent a year interviewing 71 Indonesian fishermen who had previously worked in Taiwan, China, and found that illegal fishing and the exploitation of fishermen still persist. One fisherman interviewed, Supri, was even subjected to electric shocks by the boat owner and was locked in a freezer without reason. Supri said: "When I was locked in the freezer I was very scared, very afraid that I would die, and then no one would take care of my wife and children."

EJF, Greenpeace, the Yilan County Fishermen's Occupational Union, the Yilan County Fishermen's Occupational Union, and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights jointly stated that Taiwan, China's distant-water fishing boats lack an effective supervision and management mechanism, that the Ministry of Labor and the Fisheries Agency have long had unclear divisions of responsibility, and that the overseas employment system should be abolished as soon as possible, and the Work in Fishing Convention should be implemented expeditedly to give fishermen full protection, among other measures.

EJF interviewed Indonesian fishermen and found finning and discarding of live sharks and the beheading of false killer whales; the fishermen's situation is extremely poor

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) interviewed 71 Indonesian fishermen in Indonesia between August 2018 and November 2019, covering a total of 62 fishing boats, of which 59 were Taiwan, China-registered fishing boats and the remaining 3 were foreign fishing boats (flag-of-convenience vessels) invested in by Taiwanese people, registered under the nationalities of Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands, and the United States. The investigation results showed that Taiwan, China fishing boats still have problems of illegal fishing and human rights violations.

Regarding illegal fishing practices, Chiu Shao-chi, EJF's senior Taiwan ocean project director, said that these Indonesian fishermen had all worked on Taiwan, China fishing boats within the year before the interviews, and that of the 62 fishing boats investigated, 50% had engaged in finning and discarding of live sharks and specific fish species, 13% had deliberately caught and killed dolphins, because dolphin meat is firm and has a strong bloody smell, to use as bait for catching sharks, and 11% had engaged in beheading false killer whales, solely to take their teeth as souvenirs.

Regarding human rights violations against fishermen, Chiu Shao-chi said that among the fishermen interviewed, 92% had their wages withheld under reasons such as so-called deposits, with the amount withheld per person ranging from 600 US dollars to 1,200 US dollars, 82% of fishermen had experienced overtime work, with working hours sometimes reaching 18 hours to 20 hours, 24% of fishermen had been subjected to abuse such as kicking, 34% had been humiliated with profanity, and 18% had wages below the current legal minimum wage of 450 US dollars per month.

"We are human beings too." Fisherman subjected to electric shocks; the captain said it was just a joke

Supri, 29 years old, testified in an EJF investigation video that while he was in the middle of taking a shower, he was locked without reason by the captain inside a freezer used to store fish bait. "I kept shouting: 'Captain! Captain!' begging him to open the door, but the captain did not open it. I was very scared, afraid I would die. If I died, who would take care of my wife and children?"

In the video, Supri still looked traumatized when recounting this memory. On the same voyage, the captain even asked another fisherman on the same boat to use a fishing speargun to give Supri electric shocks. "After being shocked, I felt very weak and my whole body ached. I asked the captain why he did this, and the captain said it was just a joke." Supri's wife, in the video, said gravely: "Both verbal and physical violence cause harm. They must understand that we are human beings too."

Steve Trent, CEO of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said: "Our investigation reveals the severity of human rights exploitation and illegal fishing on Taiwan, China's distant-water fishing boats. As fishery resources decline rapidly, the exploitation of fishermen and marine resources will become even more rampant. The result of cutthroat competition is to make our oceans even more endangered. Taiwan, China has already implemented many important regulations to prevent exploitation, but only enforcement makes regulations truly effective. Right now the biggest problem in Taiwan, China is insufficient inspection, and the lack of a trusted fishing monitoring mechanism."

Greenpeace: observer coverage on distant-water fishing boats is less than 10%

Chen Pei-yu, Greenpeace's distant-water fisheries project director, said that although the Fisheries Agency has introduced the three distant-water fisheries laws, it still cannot effectively eliminate illegal fishing.

Chen Pei-yu believes that Taiwan, China's fishing industry lacks a strict supervision mechanism, and that observer coverage on Taiwan, China-registered longline distant-water tuna boats is only about 10%, with most fishing boats operating on the high seas without supervision. Chen pointed out that the United Nations has estimated that one-third of the world's fishing boats are registered under Taiwan, China, and that Taiwan, China fishing boats should fulfill their responsibility for conserving marine ecology.

Chen said that the government should increase observer coverage on distant-water fishing boats and increase the number of observers at fish landing ports. Of the 32 fish landing ports in the country, only 7 have inspectors. "Internationally, it is widely seen that illegal labor practices are linked to illegal fishing. Boat owners squeeze fishermen or fish illegally in order to increase profits. Domestically, the rights and interests of foreign fishermen should be improved as soon as possible, to avoid receiving another yellow card from the EU."