Taiwan's Commercial Fishing Sector Prepares to Operate Under Stricter Labor Laws in 2017
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Fox News] by Associated Press - October 4, 2016
NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan – Commercial fishing boat owners in Taiwan, one of the world's biggest seafood exporters, face strict rules and potential fines under a new law aimed at preventing overfishing and protecting migrant crewmembers who work far at sea with little oversight.
The Distant Water Fisheries Act, which takes effect Jan. 15, 2017, comes amid growing pressure on Taiwan's seafood industry to crack down on modern-day slavery and other abuses for the more than 20,000 migrants working on the island's fleet of fishing vessels.
Frances Lee, a spokeswoman for Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said new requirements for the foreign fishermen will include insurance, health care, wages, working hours and human rights.
Last year the European Union gave Taiwan a "yellow card" warning for failing to control illegal fishing on its commercial vessels, which sail around the world to catch some $2 billion a year worth of exported tuna and other seafood every year. Without improvements, Taiwan's $14 million worth of seafood exports to the EU could face sanctions.
The U.S. State Department's 2016 Trafficking in Persons report says that while Taiwan has cracked down on forced labor and sex trafficking, fishing vessels need more attention. The report says fishermen mostly from Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have been fraudulently recruited to work on Taiwan-flagged vessels where they can face abuses including violence, limited food supplies and withheld wages. ...
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