News
Coast guard boosting efforts to stop illegal fishing
The Coast Guard Administration says it's stepping-up efforts to prevent Chinese fishing boats from operating across borders and only sporadic violations have been reported so far.
The move comes after China's three-and-a-half month fishing moratorium concluded on 16 August. The administration's Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch has said that as of noon Sunday, only the Matsu and Kinmen islands have reported a few cross-border Chinese fishing activities.
The administration says all illegal fishing vessels have been expelled and there have been no mass-scale violations despite concerns. The Coast Guard Administration has deployed tens of land and sea vessels as well as more than 300 personnel over the past two days. Officials are also dismissing media reports claiming that Chinese fishing boats are using fake automatic tracking systems to pose as Taiwanese vessels.
The Coast Guard Administration says marine patrol operations show that about 20 Chinese fishing boats were identified this past weekend, and they were all operating some 20 nautical miles outside the restricted waters around Penghu.
