EAST calls on government to amend laws and prevent finning

EAST呼籲政府修法並防止割鰭

The Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan claims offenders are getting away with killing sharks for their fins despite laws against it


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) called Tuesday (July 16) for further amendments to Taiwan’s fisheries laws to prevent shark finning.

The group said the government should enforce a zero-tolerance policy for the practice, which involves catching sharks, taking their fins, and throwing them back into the sea to die. It wants an immediate revocation of a fisher’s license if found guilty of finning, even if it is a first offense.

In support of its argument, EAST detailed the case of a vessel that was discovered in Yilan County's Nanfang’ao Fishing Port with a cargo of fins that it estimated derived from catching 2,000 to 3,000 blue sharks. It added that the boat, Jin Maan Fa No. 66, had been caught in 2021 with a cargo of fins from a reported 13 tons of blue sharks.

EAST said the Fisheries Agency has laid out laws against shark finning. “Despite this, paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of the Article 41 of the Act for Distant Water Fisheries stipulate that vessels must commit the same offense at least twice within a single year or three times within any period before their license, seafarers' books, or officers' certificates are permanently revoked.”

This needs to change, EAST said in its statement. It called on the Legislative Yuan and the Fisheries Agency to “swiftly amend Article 41 of the Taiwanese Act for Distant Water Fisheries to prevent fishing vessels from evading the recidivism period, and follow in the footsteps of the United States Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by prohibiting the removal of shark fins at sea.”

Taiwan has the world’s third-largest distant water fisheries fleet and has faced significant criticism for illegal fishing, labor practices, and shark finning, according to EAST.