Standards Act mandates wages to be paid in the legal currency (NTD), foreign crew members are often paid in USD, with payments made in cash or transferred to designated accounts. Payments may also involve multiple currencies. In alignment with this, Article 24 of the ILO-C188 stipulates that fishers should be provided with mechanisms to remit their full or partial wages, including advances, to their families without cost. Similarly, while Article 35 of the Labor Standards Act defines rest time as periods when workers are free from the employers’ supervision and control, at-sea operations blur the line between rest time and standby duty. Article 14 of the ILO-C188 mandates minimum rest periods of 10 hours within any 24hour period and 77 hours within a seven-day period for fishing vessels at sea for more than three days. However, defining and ensuring rest time aboard fishing vessels, especially in line with terrestrial labor definitions, poses significant challenges. Opinions vary widely regarding whether distinct regulations should apply to coastal and distant water fisheries. Some scholars argue that the MOL has not explicitly excluded foreign crew members employed in distant water fisheries from the Labor Standards Act. While the Fisheries Agency has indicated that labor conditions are often determined in collaboration with coastal States, questions arise about the fairness of wage disparities between foreign crew members employed domestically and abroad. For instance, in Donggang, foreign crew members are employed in distant water and nearshore. Yet, differences in employment procedures and applicable regulations result in distant water fishers—who endure harsher working conditions—earning significantly less than their nearshore counterparts. This disparity highlights inequities in treatment. From a long-term policy perspective, protections for foreign crew members employed overseas should aim to align as closely as possible with domestic labor standards. Determining specific measures to reduce these gaps requires collaborative negotiations among all relevant stakeholders. The specific regulations applicable and the governing authority 124