Taiwan could join fishing council in 2014

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has announced that Taiwan could become a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council by as early as the end of this year. As such Taiwan would have the right to participate in management decisions such as setting quotas for saury catches in the North Pacific region.

Chou Tai-chu, Director of MOFA's International Office, said Thursday that Taiwan is the world's six-largest deep-ocean fishing country, with fleets in all the major ocean fishing grounds around the globe and a total of more than 2000 ocean-going vessels. According to 2012 statistics, the value of Taiwan's annual catch is TWD 106.2 billion (USD 3.5 billion, EUR 2.6 billion), of which some TWD 50.1 billion (USD 1.7 billion, EUR 1.2 billion) comes from deep-sea fishing.

Chou said the size and strength of Taiwan's offshore fishing industry has led the international community to believe it should be incorporated into the international fisheries management system. Since 1997, Taiwan has participated in a number of regional fisheries management organizations as a "fishing entity" entitled to participate in negotiations conducted by the related organizations.

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