The Executive Yuan Council today approved a draft amendment to the Fisheries Act enabling Taiwanese fishing vessels to legally hire private armed security guards for protection in areas where there is a high risk of piracy, such as the waters off Somalia, which have been especially plagued by violence of late. The amendment will be sent to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation.
This amendment is related to the draft amendment of the Shipping Act, which would grant the same privileges to shipping vessels, Premier Jiang Yi-huah noted. He requested that the Council of Agriculture (COA) proactively communicate with the legislative caucuses of various political parties and seek their support to complete the legislative procedure as soon as possible.
The Indian Ocean is an important tuna fishing area for Taiwanese vessels, but their freedom to operate has been greatly reduced as Somalian pirates have become more prevalent and violent in recent years, causing a major industry crisis, the COA indicated. There were once approximately 600 large and small Taiwanese fishing vessels operating in the Indian Ocean, but currently only around 120 large fishing vessels and 300 small ones remain in the area.
In response, the COA formulated this amendment, which stipulates that if a fishing boat operates in waters which are approved by central competent authorities but particularly vulnerable to piracy, they may hire armed security guards provided by foreign private maritime security companies. This measure has already been adopted and proven successful in the international community.
The draft amendment to the Fisheries Act is summarized as follows:
1.Fishermen are required to inform central competent authorities in advance of their intention to hire private armed security guards. The armed security guards and their weapons, including guns, ammunition, swords and knives, must board and disembark the boats overseas and are prohibited from entering any part of the Republic of China's territory except the boats that are allowed to hire them. The central competent authorities are empowered to announce which waters are highly vulnerable to piracy and prescribe the reporting procedure fishermen are required to follow in hiring armed security guards, the documents they should submit and the other regulations they are required to obey. (Article 39-1)
2.Administrative penalties for fishermen violating Article 39-1 of the Fisheries Act are also amended. (Article 64-2)