Yellow Card Issued To Taiwan By The EU

Taiwan is the latest nation to be hit by a yellow card warning from the EU for failing to fight IUU fishing, with particular emphasis placed on its lack of fisheries management and distant water fleet.

The country now has six months to make changes to its management and vessel control policies to bring them in line with international law, or risk being given a red card, banning fisheries trade with the EU.

According to FAO data, Taiwan landed 357,071 M/T of tuna in 2013, with over half of this, at 54 percent, being skipjack. As the nation with the sixth largest global catch of tuna in the world, Taiwan exports more than half of its fisheries production, with the majority of its tuna heading to the US, Thailand and Japan.

Despite the EU not being Taiwan’s biggest market for tuna, the country’s international reputation could be damaged if it should receive a red card in six months. As one of the main suppliers of raw material tuna to Thai canneries, a red card for Taiwan could also see Thailand’s European exports suffer, preventing the country from exporting any canned Taiwanese caught tuna to Europe.

Currently, Taiwan has the biggest tuna fleet in the Pacific, with 73 large-scale longliners, 34 purse seiners and over 1,200 smaller tuna longline boats. The country also has 8 new purse seiners under construction this year.

Taiwan has already faced international sanctions over its IUU fishing activities in the past, with a 70 percent cut to its bigeye quota and a reduction of 160 large-scale longliner vessels in 2006. It has also been reported that the Taiwanese-flagged vessel ‘Yu Fong 168’ discovered illegally fishing in Marshall Islands’ waters in 2009, remains on the WCPFC’s IUU vessel register because it cannot be located by the country’s fisheries agency. 

“Taiwan has a choice. Taiwan’s fisheries problem is too many boats and too little control. Taiwan must clean up its fisheries management, or risk the international disgrace and economic consequences of a red card,” said Greenpeace oceans campaigner Yen Nin in a reaction to the announcement from Brussels.

The news of Taiwan’s yellow card warning comes just as it is revealed that both Ghana and PNG have had their yellow cards revoked this week after proving they had made significant improvements in combatting IUU fishing in their waters.