Taipei, Aug. 3 (CNA) Government officials pledged during an international forum Tuesday to forge closer participation in international fishery organizations to prove Taiwan's commitment as a responsible member of the global fishery community.
"As an important player in the high seas fishing industry, Taiwan has been promoting its partnerships in various organizations, " Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Wu-hsiung said in his opening remarks at the opening ceremony.
The International Fishers' Forum (IFF), co-hosted by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, a U.S. federal organization tasked with managing and implementing laws governing fishing activity, and Taiwan's Fisheries Agency under the COA, has brought together officials and scholars from 25 countries for the three-day forum.
The forum is geared toward commercial fishery operators, management authorities, experts in marine spatial planning, fishing technology experts, seafood retailer representatives, marine ecologists and fisheries scientists.
Over the past decades, fishing has contributed greatly to Taiwan's food security and economic stability, said Fisheries Agency Director-General James Sha.
However, the country, which has one of the largest blue water fishing fleets in the world, has been accused several times of over-fishing and fish laundering by international fishery organizations.
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) decided in 2005 to cut Taiwan's bigeye tuna fishing quota of 14,900 tons in that year by 70 percent to 4,600 tons. The sanction was not lifted until a year later.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan is full member of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna. It has cooperator status in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the ICCAT.
In addition, it is an observer in the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and an "invited expert" of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
The government has fine-tuned its fishery policy to make sure international regulations are upheld and the sustainability of fish stocks is improved, Sha said, adding that the forum is hopeful of deciding upon a "Taipei statement" before its conclusion.
In addition to improving the sustainability of fish stocks and protected species with which these fisheries interact, the IFF also intends to bring the fishing industry into the relatively new dialogue of marine spatial planning and management -- a process that brings together multiple users of the ocean to decide on how to make best use of ocean resources.
"Marine spatial planning is a relatively new topic for us, but we are keen to understand more about it and do the best we can to make our industry better, " said Hsieh Wen-Jung, chairman of the Taiwan Deep Sea Tuna Longline Boat-Owners and Exporters Association. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J