On 24 March 2017, the Council of Agriculture (COA) held a press conference on "Combating illegal fishing and sustainable distant water fisheries" at the Fishery Monitoring Center of the Fisheries Agency. Chaired by COA Minister Tsung-hsien Lin, the conference not only demonstrated the progress of work that Taiwan has achieved in combating IUU fishing, but also showcased the operation of the 24-hour Fishery Monitoring Center recently established. 

Cracking down IUU fishing using modern technology

　　The COA stated that the European Union issued a warning yellow card to Taiwan in October 2015 for insufficient cooperation in combating IUU. In order to rid the yellow card as soon as possible, various actions have been taken to strengthen the fisheries management. In February 2017 the Fisheries Agency established a 24-hour Fishery Monitoring Center, integrating static fishing vessel information with dynamic vessel voyage data. It allows fishery managers to access vessel operation information in a real-time basis, reminding fishing vessels to comply with the regulations and avoid committing serious offenses, thus effectively stopping possible illegal fishing activities in time. In addition to the current vessel monitoring system, the Fisheries Agency entrusted the academic sector to set up an integrated information system which integrates basic vessel information, fishing cooperation information, catch data, fishing quota, navigating track, violation history, among others, hoping to effectively shorten the time needed for manual handling and data comparison to facilitate fishery managers to take full control of vessel operation information.

Reaffirming Taiwan’s determination to combat illegal fishing

　　The COA further stated that in response to EU's issuing of yellow card, Taiwan has taken different actions to combat illegal fishing. Such actions include strengthening of legal framework, improving and enhancing monitoring and surveillance in fishery management mechanism, strengthening fishery product traceability, and enhancement of international fishery cooperation. Minister Lin commended the Fisheries Agency for setting up the Fishery Monitoring Center with 24-hour rotating shifts and the use of satellite communication and information technology. He believed that this would no doubt put an end to resource damaging illegal fishing activities in a near future. In order to protect marine resources, he reiterated the steadfast determination in law enforcement with respect to illegal fishing activities, allowing the majority of law-abiding fishermen to carry out legitimate fishing operations, and thus achieving sustainable fisheries development.