Premier Jiang Yi-huah today touted the progress made in Taiwan-Japan fishery cooperation in more than a year since the two countries concluded a fisheries agreement in April 2013.
"The Taiwan and Japan Fisheries Agreement has not only protected Taiwanese fishing rights and increased bluefin tuna harvests, it has also won favorable coverage from many international news outlets," Jiang said after being briefed by the Council of Agriculture (COA) on the implementation of the pact. The joint efforts of the COA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) in this matter were worth commending, he added.
To improve bilateral cooperation, the COA and relevant agencies should continue negotiating with Japan through a joint fishery committee formed in May 2013, working out other issues of mutual concern such as how fishing rights should be handled in waters outside the agreement-designated zone as well as further fishery cooperation, the premier said.
Jiang said the CGA should station large naval vessels in the two countries' overlapping waters to safeguard Taiwanese fishermen while demonstrating Taiwan's sovereignty over the designated zone. Meanwhile, the COA can help fishermen's associations in eastern Taiwan raise awareness that government protection applies to the designated zone, and that fishermen should operate inside the zone to ensure their personal and property safety.
COA officials indicated that the fishery agreement is a concrete result of President Ma Ying-jeou's East China Sea Peace Initiative. The designated zone was set up as an interim arrangement to sidestep disputes arising from the two parties' overlapping exclusive economic waters. The agreement conforms to the requirements and the spirit of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, provides a legal basis in international law, and affirms Taiwan's consistent stance on its sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands.
Between 2006 to 2012—before the agreement was signed—over 250 Taiwanese fishing vessels encountered Japanese interference while operating in what is now the designated zone. Since the signing of the pact, that number has dropped from 18 vessels in 2012 to just one in 2013, COA officials said.
Marine catches by Taiwanese vessels in the zone have also increased. For instance, the number of Pacific bluefin tuna caught this year grew 42 percent from those of last year and 84 percent from the year before. In terms of weight, the catches increased 74,972 kilograms from last year's and 152,758 kilograms from the year before that. These figures show that the agreement not only allows Taiwanese fishermen to operate freely within the zone but also advances their rights and interests, the officials said.