Taiwan joins South Pacific fisheries management body

Taiwan joins South Pacific fisheries management body

Taiwan officially joined a South Pacific fisheries management body on 23 September, a move which would further protect the rights of Taiwanese fishing boats operating in the region and help the deep-sea fisheries industry, the government said.

Being a member of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) would help protect the rights of Taiwanese fishermen operating in the region's open waters and would also allow Taiwan a role in the management of maritime resources in the Pacific Ocean, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The step would enable Taiwan to have a say in the formulation of fishing policies in the South Pacific region. The fisheries management body aims to conserve and manage fish stocks other than tuna, according to the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture's Fisheries Agency.

The membership in the fisheries body came 30 days after Taiwan agreed to abide by the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean, the agency said.

The fishing management body was founded on the basis of this convention, it added.

Other members of the New Zealand-based inter-governmental organization committed to the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources include Australia, Belize, Chile, Cook Islands, Cuba, European Union, South Korea and New Zealand.

Taiwan is also a member of other global fisheries management bodies such as the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean, the Extended Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

ENDS

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