The ferocious face behind seafood, modern fishermen trapped in the net │ the Taiwan government is accused of not actively acting, the structure exploits the sea of fishermen

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It has been 30 months since the European Union issued a yellow card to Taiwan's offshore fishing industry, and the emerging image is that illegal fishing and the abuse of fishermen are often two sides. Reporters from "upstream and downstream" visited the country and domestic and foreign experts to explore how the structure of "fishing for the best of the sea" exploits the ocean and human rights at the same time.

Poor management of fishermen and human smuggling are all going on now.

It is said that the most beautiful scenery in Taiwan is people, but what foreign fishermen see is obviously a different situation.

"if someone offers you a contract of 80, 5000 Philippine pesos (about $1700), don't sign it." In the film, the foreign fisherman choked up in tears and struggled like a fish caught. "it took me nine months to escape." As an illegal fisherman without any documents, the Taiwan captain was sure that he could not see the light, so he could only swallow his anger in a dark corner.

In a film made by the British Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), fishing boats flying under the Taiwan flag or operated by Taiwanese have poor working conditions, harsh wages for shipowners, threats of physical and violence from foreign fishermen, and even extravagant hopes for a good meal.

With regard to these allegations, Chen Wenqin, director general of the Keelung Fisheries Association, and Wang Zhibin, general manager of Li & Fung Cryogenic, which operates offshore fishing, believe that the abuse of fishermen is only an individual case and should not be generalized. The Council of Agriculture also said that the laws and regulations have been improved in the past two years. "the abuse of fishermen is a thing of the past."

The immediate fact is that fishing, poor management of deckhands and even human smuggling are all going on now.

Fishermen on board are regarded as commodities and are not valued for human rights (Photography / Li Huan)

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