Combating Illegal Fishing: Fisheries Agency States US Commends Taiwan's Improvement Efforts

(CNA, Reporter Wang Shufen, Taipei, July 1) Taiwan was accused in 2023 of having fishing vessels violate regulations against shark finning. The Fisheries Agency stated today that the United States has released its latest "Biennial Report to Congress on International Fisheries Management," commending Taiwan's investigations and improvement efforts regarding illegal fishing.

The Fisheries Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture issued a press release stating that the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the "Biennial Report to Congress on International Fisheries Management" for the 2026 reporting cycle to Congress on June 29. Regarding the 2023 report, which pointed out that nine Taiwanese fishing vessels violated regulations against shark finning and engaged in other illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, including forced labor in fisheries, the U.S. stated in this year's report that Taiwan has taken action to rectify the identified IUU fishing activities.

The Fisheries Agency said that the U.S. commended Taiwan not only for providing detailed investigation reports but also for making significant progress in protecting the labor rights of crew members on distant-water fishing vessels.

The Fisheries Agency stated that in this 2026 reporting cycle report by NOAA, Taiwan was not listed for either IUU fishing or forced labor. However, regarding shark conservation measures, the latest report identified Taiwan, Japan, Ghana, Mexico, Namibia, China, and Vanuatu as seven countries whose shark conservation regulations are not equivalent to those of the United States.

The Fisheries Agency explained that international shark resource conservation and management require "whole fish utilization" and prohibit "finning." Currently, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) achieve the conservation and management goal of "whole fish utilization" of shark resources by adopting the "fin attached to body" practice. Taiwan's high-seas fishing vessels currently adopt either the "fin attached to body" or "fin tied to body" practice for shark catches, which fully complies with international norms.

The Fisheries Agency requires vessels fishing for fresh shark catches within Taiwan's exclusive economic zone to adopt the same "fin attached to body" practice as the United States. However, some small tuna longline vessels operating on the high seas, for which sharks are an important catch, have limited fish hold space and cannot practice "fin attached to body," only being able to adopt the "fin tied to body" practice. The Fisheries Agency will explain this to the United States and engage in consultations. (Editor: Li Shuhua) 0701

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