It’s a cool early morning on the cusp of spring and summer, at a dock on the west bank of Kao­hsiung’s Qian­zhen Fishing Port. At eight, a transshipment vessel—in this case a “reefer ship” (refrigerated cargo vessel) that has collected the catch of 24 Taiwanese fishing boats at the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius—begins to unload its cargo.

Deep-frozen bigeye and yellowfin tuna are taken out of –50°C freezers. Covered with frost, the fish grow shrouded in snowy mist when they hit the ambient temperature of +20°C. The unloading crew skillfully operates the forklifts, moving pallets of bigeye tuna weighing dozens of kilos into refrigerated containers. After weighing, they will be shipped to Japan.

The Fisheries Agency requires Taiwan-registered long-range fishing vessels to submit to round-the-clock tracking, transmitting their locations by satellite every hour. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)

Fighting illegal fishing

In addition to buyers, there is another group of people keeping their eyes on these fish: inspectors from the Council of Agriculture’s Fisheries Agency. The FA’s Yi Zhi­jian, who has been on the job for six years, leads a group of six inspectors who arrived before the unloading started with two sets of cameras to document the entire process. “We mobilized so many people because this reefer ship is transferring the catches of so many fishing boats to Taiwan,” explains Yi. “During unloading, it’s all divided up accordingly and put into different refrigerated containers or trucks. We need to ensure that these vehicles have been properly weighed, and that the amounts of quota-restricted species—such as bigeye tuna from the Pacific or yellowfin tuna from the Indian Ocean—aren’t too high.” 

After ascertaining the boat’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) number, the inspectors check that the Chinese and English names of the vessel match the records and that this reefer was indeed the ship for which an unloading application had been filed. These measures are meant to protect against fraudulent identities. Meanwhile, other inspectors check that the hatches on the holds are still locked down, then open them up and inspect the holds to ensure that they contain no forbidden species such as oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) or silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis).

A year ago, Yi was still an observer with the Fisheries Agency. Observers go out to sea with Taiwan’s long-range fleet for six months to a year. As soon as the boats start to cast their nets, the observers begin to take notes about the species, lengths and weights of the fish being caught. Apart from providing data for both academia and industry that can be used to track changes in global fishing stocks, they watch whether seabirds, sea turtles or other untargeted species are ending up in the boats’ nets. They also monitor for overfishing and for illegal transfers between boats.

As he boards the vessel to conduct the inspection, Yi recounts his experiences at sea as an observer: “Every observer loses ten kilos on their first six-month stint at sea. We’d joke that we were on the ‘ocean diet.’ It was mainly because we were landlubbers unaccustomed to life at sea. Aboard the fishing boats, we’d eat canned food and deep-fried or hotly spiced fish. The more we ate, the skinnier we got. We’d eat a huge amount of sashimi too, typically from fish that had been partially eaten by sharks.” Especially in stormy seas, it’s tough to monitor fishing and stand in opposition to the captain.

According to the Fisheries Agency, Taiwan is one of the world’s largest fishing nations. Nanfang'ao Fishing Harbor is an important base for its long-range fishing fleet.

Fisheries in crisis

Inspectors and observers are at the front lines of the FA’s enforcement efforts. Their work constitutes a concrete measure to support the efforts of international fishery organizations to stamp out illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing at a time when fisheries are nearing exhaustion around the globe.   

With technological advancements such as GPS and electronic fish finders, and with constantly advancing fishing gear and methods, oceanic fish of all sizes, species and behaviors—and migratory epi­pelagic and meso­pelagic fish in particular—are rapidly disappearing. Experts estimate that global fishing fleet capacity is four times what is needed. High-tech fishing methods are leading to the rapid exhaustion of fisheries.

According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, some 30%—or US$13.8 billion worth—of global fish hauls in recent years have been illegal. Overfishing is seriously threatening the diversity and sustainability of this global resource. Consequently, stamping out illegal fishing is a major target of inter­national efforts to conserve oceanic fisheries.

Inspectors scrutinize unloading operations, checking the weight of the catch and ensuring that quotas haven’t been exceeded. The photo shows yellowfin tunas that have just been unloaded.

Three-pronged approach

According to the Fisheries Agency, Taiwan is among the world’s 20 largest fishing nations and is one of the top six in terms of hauls from the high seas. It catches more Pacific saury in the northern Pacific and more alba­core tuna in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic than any other nation.

Yet ­Huang Hong-yen, the FA’s director-general, points out that the yellow-card warning issued by the European Commission in 2015 came as a wake-up call for Taiwan. Apart from strengthening communication with the EU, the ROC has revised its legislation governing high-seas fishing, by newly enacting the Act for Distant Water Fisheries, and amending both the Fisheries Act and the Act to Govern Investment in the Operation of Foreign Flag Fishing Vessels. Fishing vessels are required to make reports every day in electronic logbooks. To prevent “fish laundering” and quota busting, they can only unload or transfer their hauls at designated domestic and international fishing ports. Meanwhile, the FA has doubled the number of its observers and established an integrated system of data collection to better meet its duties as a responsible steward of global fisheries.

The FA requires long-range fishing boats to transmit their locations by satellite every hour and undergo round-the-clock tracking by the Fisheries Monitoring Center, which charts the movements of 1,200 boats, including those registered in Taiwan as a flag of con­veni­ence. This close monitoring allows the FA to determine whether boats have strayed into areas where fishing is forbidden or have illegally entered the exclusive economic zones of other nations.

Previously, the highest fine available under the Fisheries Act was NT$300,000, but today the highest fine under the amended laws governing long-range fishing is NT$4.5 million. With the FA strictly enforcing these laws, during the first three months of last year Taiwanese fishing boat owners were fined a total of NT$58.75 million for 71 violations—including the filing of false electronic reports about bigeye tuna hauls, unloading at ports without permission, and having illegible hull markings.

Taiwan Tuna Longline Association secretary-general Martin Ho explains, “The EU system gives ‘points’ for violations, whereas our system directly imposes fines from NT$2 million to tens of millions. Worldwide, only the EU and Taiwan require hourly satellite location reports and daily catch reports. Neither Japanese nor mainland Chinese boats are under similar requirements. Taiwan now monitors fishing even more strictly than the EU.”

Inspectors are at the front lines of the Fisheries Agency’s efforts to stamp out illegal fishing.

Economics and conservation: A balance

“I know that fishermen are angry, but international law must be respected,” explains the FA’s ­Huang. “There is no way around it. The reforms will cause pain for a period as the system is being established. But there is a global consensus about the need to protect the sustainability of oceanic resources. International waters are resources that belong to all of humanity, and Taiwan’s high-sea fishing fleet is doing its best to stamp out il­legal fishing there.” 

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission has set Taiwan’s longline fishing quota for bigeye tuna in 2018 at 10,481 metric tons, 806 tons more than the previous year. The increase demonstrates that years of diligent cooperation and sacrifice to revive fisheries have paid off—that marine conservation efforts, combined with the oceans’ natural ability to renew themselves, are bringing benefits to the citizens of the world. As British journalist Charles Clover says in the 2009 documentary The End of the Line: “The sea belongs to us, the citizen, not to the fishermen....”.

Fisheries Agency director-general Huang Hong-yen believes that Taiwan, as a major fishing nation, has a duty to promote conservation efforts in international waters. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)

Fish are unloaded on a tight schedule. Inspectors focus on checking whether boats have gone over their quotas or have caught protected species.

With advancements in fishing technologies and rampant illegal fishing around the world, global fisheries are facing exhaustion and consumers are paying more and more for their fish.

Marine conservation efforts combined with the oceans’ natural ability to renew themselves are bringing benefits to the citizens of the world.