One of the first Taiwan-flagged long-distance fishing vessels to comply with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards started its maiden voyage Monday, leaving from Pingtung County for a month-long operation in the Solomon Islands.
The Chien Yuan Ming No. 88 distant-water longliner is one of the first vessels to be built in Taiwan following the Fisheries Agency’s introduction of new regulations in November 2020 that make meeting ILO standard C188 a prerequisite for receiving a fishing license.
Tseng I-ting, the owner of the Chien Yuan Ming No. 88, told CNA his vessel allows the crew to eat inside an eating area separated from their work space, and gives crew members more privacy by having them sleep in rooms of two to four people.
Tseng said he built a fishing boat that met the highest international standards because he wanted Taiwan’s fishing industry to be sustainable and internationally recognized.
The vessel began its first journey Monday from one of Taiwan’s distant-water fishing bases in Donggang in southern Taiwan and was headed to fishing grounds near the Solomon Islands.
Taiwan’s fishing industry has been subject to harsh criticism for its poor treatment of its workforce, which is made up mainly of migrant workers from Southeast Asia.
Taiwanese seafood products were included for the second consecutive time in the “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor” published by the U.S. Department of Labor in September.
The updated List of Goods maintained the forced labor designation that Taiwanese seafood first received in the report’s previous edition in 2020.
Meanwhile, Allison Lee, co-founder and secretary general of the Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union, told CNA that despite the fanfare around the new vessel, having only a few vessels that met ILO C188 standards in Taiwan was not enough to help the welfare of migrant fishermen.
In fact, having vessels that meet ILO C188 standards was already the bare minimum, Lee said.