Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti recently said her ministry would file complaints with the Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese governments, as well as with the International Police Organization (INTERPOL), to protest illegal fishing activities conducted by Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessels in the country’s exclusive economic zone.
However, Taiwan's Fisheries Agency denied the accusation, with the agency claiming that its monitoring system showed that none of the seven Taiwanese fishing boats accused of poaching in Indonesian waters had engaged in any illegal operations over the past three months, according to Focus Taiwan.
Taiwan has been under increased international scrutiny since the European Union placed Taiwan on a yellow card warning list in late 2015 for insufficient cooperation in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
However, the country’s fisheries agency said earlier this year that Taiwan has made improvements in 11 action plans it accepted as means to rid itself of the yellow card designation.
