Pingtung captain who killed 43 dolphins for shark bait indicted

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) A Pingtung fishing boat captain was indicted Friday for hunting and killing dolphins for use as shark bait in the northern Pacific in 2024.

The defendant, surnamed Tien (田), allegedly directed his 10 Indonesian crew members to spear the protected animals when they approached his ship and then pull them aboard using electrified hooks, according to a press release by the Pingtung District Prosecutors Office on Friday.

Once hooked, Tien reportedly activated a switch to electrocute the dolphins, after which his crew would cut them up for use as bait.

Using this method, the crew killed 43 dolphins in total during their fishing trip on the northern Pacific from May to August 2024, prosecutors said.

However, their activities were captured on tape during an aerial patrol for illicit fishing practices by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, who later provided the evidence to Taiwan's Fisheries Agency, prosecutors said.

Tien was charged with hunting and killing protected species animals, violating Taiwan's Act on Wildlife Conservation.

Six of the 10 crew were given deferred prosecution, while the other four have been out at sea with other ships and were wanted by officials, said prosecutors.