Reuters

More than a third of Taiwan's tuna-fishing fleet in the Indian Ocean has been scared off by the threat of piracy. Photo: Reuters

More than a third of Taiwan's tuna-fishing fleet in the Indian Ocean has been scared off by the threat of piracy, according to Taiwanese delegates at a fisheries meeting underway in Paris.

Sixty-six of 141 vessels equipped to fish bigeye tuna “have ceased their operations due to the escalating situation,” noted a document submitted by Taiwan to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ICCAT).

“The escalation of piracy ... has severely undermined the livelihood of the fishermen concerned and affected the legitimate operation of the industry,” it said.

Since 2009, three Taiwan-flagged vessels and their crews have been hijacked by pirates from Somalia.

One, the Wen Fa No 161, was detained for more than 10 months and was released in February 2010 “only after paying a huge ransom,” the document said.

Two other vessels, the Jih Chun Tsai No. 68 and the Tai Yuan No. 227, along with their crews, “are still held by pirates,” it said.

To compensate for the lost business, Taiwan is seeking permission to “transfer” 15 of the mothballed fishing vessels from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic.

The 48-member ICCAT, meeting in Paris through Saturday, is charged with setting the rules and quotas for fisheries in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, including all species of commercially-fished tunas.

The transfer would be limited to 2010 and 2011, the proposal said.

“Once the problem of piracy is resolved, or the period is expired, the vessels ... will return to the Indian Ocean,” it said.

The main focus of the Paris meeting is the plight of Atlantic bluefin tuna, which has been fished to the brink of viability.

Bigeye is more plentiful, but conservationists say stricter quotas should be put in place now for this species as well to avoid the future collapse of stocks. -

Sapa-AFP