Taiwan taking steps to curb illegal fishingBy Yang Yuan-ting and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan was for the second time listed on the US’ biennial report on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, but the report also acknowledged the steps it has taken to remedy the situation, the Fisheries Agency said yesterday. Illegal fishing poses a threat to “ocean ecosystems and sustainable fisheries critical to global food and economic security, putting law-abiding fishermen and seafood producers in the United States and abroad at a disadvantage,” the report said. Photo: CNAHowever, Taiwan was certified to have taken actions to tackle the illegal fishing activities identified in the 2021 report, the NOAA added. However, since then, Taiwan has taken action to combat illegal fishing by investigating the vessels implicated in the previous report, amending fishing guidelines to reduce the harm caused by bycatch and sharing information on the nation’s progress in these matters with the US, it said. These efforts led to the NOAA’s positive determination that Taiwan was remedying IUU fishing activities carried out by its fishing boats, it said.

Source: Taipei Times September 09, 2023 03:38 UTC