Ⅴ. NHRC Recommendations︱
• Regulating FOC vessels through international
cooperation
Under international law, if Taiwan is not the FOCs country of
registration then it has no jurisdiction over them unless human trafficking is
involved. The FA has in recent years managed the labor conditions of FOC
fishermen indirectly through permits for investing in the operation of FOCs.
The Act to Govern Investment in the Operation of Foreign Flag Fishing
Vessels and its subordinate legislation were however originally written to
prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by FOCs.
Short, medium and long-term policy measures have been proposed by
the FA for FOC management. The government has made it clear that it does
not support the use of FOCs and caps will be imposed. Recent amendments
to the relevant legislation also bar Taiwanese nationals involved in forced
labor, human trafficking, and similar crimes from investing in the operation
of foreign-flagged fishing vessels; foreign-flagged fishing vessels involved in
forced labor or human trafficking are banned from Taiwanese ports as well.
More detailed provisions should be incorporated into these
management measures based on the actual conditions of fishermen aboard
the ships. An outright ban may represent a missed opportunity to conduct
boarding inspections or impound ships to seek compensation.
Taiwan’s diplomatic difficulties make it difficult to liaise with the
main countries of registration used. Even if they ignore our requests for
arbitration, we can still leverage pressure from the target markets for catch
091