Baseline Study Published on Human Rights in Taiwanese Fisheries

Human Rights at Sea has published a new baseline study in relation to the Taiwanese coastal and deep water fishing industry is response to ongoing field reporting of systemic human rights abuses for national and migrant crews.

The publication titled Awareness and Application of Human Rights in Taiwan’s Fishing Industry is part of the series of baseline studies being undertaken by Human Rights at Sea to quantify and qualify the levels of understanding and application of human rights provisions and protections in coastal states.

Supported by Taiwanese civil society, welfare organizations, Catholic missions and government departments, the study combines academic reviews with field research. It is baselined against the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the charity’s founding principle that “human rights apply at sea, as they do on land.”

The study makes a number of recommendations for the Taiwanese Fishing Authority:

• Strengthen international collaboration and learn from other countries’ experience to accelerate the process of extending human rights protections at sea.
• Strengthen implementation of the existing laws, policies and instruments in respect of human rights protections for national and migrant fishermen in the maritime sector.
• Abolish the Overseas Employment Scheme and ensure that all migrant fishermen, whatever their State origin, are protected by Taiwanese Labour Law when employed in maritime roles.
• Return labor and recruitment agency management responsibilities from the Fisheries Agencies to the Ministry of Labour.
• Safeguard and provide necessary training for migrant fishermen prior to work.
• Embed the philosophy and State-led narrative of “human rights at sea” in the national agenda.

The study is available here.