Taiwan fisheries sector embraces long-term move away from Chinese fishers

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) Although Kaohsiung-based Chiang Teng International Enterprise Co., Ltd. recently announced it would no longer bring in Chinese fishermen on the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) official website, the decision merely reflects a long-term trend in the sector, according to the MOA's Fisheries Agency on Monday.

In the face of declining demand for Chinese crew, Taiwan's fisheries sector continues to focus more on Southeast Asian countries as a source of migrant fishermen, the agency said.

As Taiwan has long been plagued by an acute labor shortage, particularly in the agriculture sector, foreign fishermen are especially sought-after, it said, noting that the number of Chinese fishers working on Taiwanese fishing boats has trailed far behind those from Southeast Asian countries in recent years.

Given the shared language, Chinese fishermen were the first allowed into Taiwan, the agency said. However, over time many of those who work for Taiwanese fishing ships have been promoted to managerial positions and receive higher pay, it added.

As a result, the demand for fisheries sector workers in Taiwan has shifted to Indonesia, the Philippines or Vietnam to meet the need for fishermen as the country tries to diversify source labor countries, it said.

At the end of 2023, there were nearly 300 Chinese fishermen in Taiwan's near-shore fishery industry, significantly fewer than the approximately 9,500 from Indonesia, 1,200 from the Philippines, and around 1,300 from other countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand, agency statistics showed.

In the deep-sea fisheries sector, there more more than 800 fishermen from China, over 13,800 from Indonesia, as well as around 5,000 and 1,000 from the Philippines and Vietnam, respectively, while some 200 come from other above-mentioned Southeast Asian countries, the data indicated.

In addition to fisheries, other fields also need large numbers of migrant workers to cope with the labor shortage, including agriculture and food, animal husbandry and aquaculture, according to the MOA.

As the Ministry of Labor has successfully sought to diversify sources of foreign laborer, migrant workers from India could also be brought into Taiwan, the MOA's Department of Farmers' Service said.