Article 1
This Act is enacted to regulate persons with the nationality of
the Republic of China who engage in the business of fishery by
investing in or operating foreign flag vessels, for the purpose
of conserving marine fisheries resources, whereby contributing
to good governance of international fisheries.
Article 2
The competent authority of this Act shall be the Council of
Agriculture, Executive Yuan
Article 3
Terms used in this Act shall be defined as follows:
(1) “sea areas beyond national jurisdiction” means sea areas
beyond the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone of
the Republic of China;
(2) “investment in the business of fishery” means using of
capital funding, fishing equipments or facilities and rights of
a certain amount or equity, solely or jointly in the operation
of the business of fishery;
(3) “operation of the business of fishery” means operating, with
fishing vessel(s) of one’s own or by lease, the business of
fishing, trading, transporting, import and export of catches or
fisheries products;
(4) “conducting the business of fishery” means the conducting,
with fishing vessels of one’s own or by lease, activities of
fishing, trading, transporting, import and export of catches or
fisheries products;
(5) “fish laundering” means activities that constitute any of
the following:
i. selling or transacting in, under the name of a national
fishing vessel, catches or fisheries products of species
regulated by international fisheries organizations and caught by
foreign flag fishing vessels;
ii. selling or transacting in, under the name of a foreign flag
fishing vessel that is invested or operated by a person with the
nationality of the Republic of China, catches or fisheries
products of species regulated by international fisheries
organizations and caught by any other fishing vessels;
(6) “interested party” means a person who holds or maintains
information relating to the catch amount, fishing periods,
fishing gears, fishing methods, investment and operation of the
fishing vessels.
The amount or sharing as referred to in subparagraph (2) of the
preceding paragraph shall be accordingly publicized by the
competent authority.
Article 4
No person with the nationality of the Republic of China is
permitted to conduct the business of fishery in sea areas beyond
national jurisdiction by investing in or operating foreign flag
fishing vessels, without prior authorization of the competent
authority.
In case of any of the following circumstances, the conduct of
the business of fishery by investing in or operating the foreign
flag fishing vessel concerned shall not be authorized, and the
competent authority shall revoke the authorization that has
already been granted
(1) The flag State of the foreign flag fishing vessel concerned
is incapable of controlling and managing its fishing vessels;
(2) The flag State of the foreign flag fishing vessel is listed
on the IUU fishing non-cooperating countries list or is subject
to a letter of identification for more than 2 years by other
countries, international fisheries organizations, or other
economic integrated organizations;
(3) The fishery type and fishing area of the foreign flag
fishing vessel concerned are under the management of the
international fisheries organization and the flag State of the
foreign flag fishing vessel concerned is not a party or
cooperating non-party to that international fisheries
organization;
(4) The foreign flag fishing vessel concerned is listed on the
IUU fishing vessel list(s) of the international fisheries
organization(s).
Conditions for authorization, application procedures, review,
conditions for revocation of the authorization as referred to
in paragraph 1, and other requirements, shall be prescribed by
the competent authority.
Article 5
A person who obtains the authorization in accordance with
Article 4 shall make regular reports of the data relating to the
fishing operation to the competent authority.
The period, types, content, manner and other matters related to
the reporting in the above paragraph shall be prescribed by the
competent authority.
Article 6
A person with the nationality of the Republic of China who
conducts the business of fishery in sea areas beyond national
jurisdiction by investing in or operating foreign flag fishing
vessels shall comply with the regulations prescribed by the
competent authority, taking into account the conservation
measures adopted by international fisheries organizations, and
relevant regulations on fishing prescribed by the flag or
coastal State.
The regulations referred to in the preceding paragraph include
management measures relating to authorization to fish,
permitted fishing areas, fishing periods, vessel position
reporting, fishing gears, fishing methods, catch quota and other
requirements.
Article 7
For the fisheries management, the competent authority may
request the interested party to submit reports on catch amount,
fishing period, fishing gears and fishing methods.
If deems necessary, the competent authority may designate
officers to visit the interested party, interested organizations
or institutions and conduct an investigation. The officers may
also request provision of or handing over information relating
to the investment and operation of foreign flag fishing vessels
in question.
In case of urgency in provision of report or conducting the
investigation provided for in paragraph 1 and 2 above, the
competent authority may designate officers to the relevant
sites to conduct inspection, and question the interested party.
In carrying out investigation or inspection provided for in
paragraph 1 to 3 above, the designated officers shall present
documents evidencing their authorization, or such badge that
may show their identification.
The interested party, organizations and institutions concerned
shall not evade, obstruct, or refuse the investigation,
inspection, or request for submission of reports and for
provision or handing over of information provided in paragraph
1 to 3 above.
Article 8
A person with the nationality of the Republic of China who
conducts the business of fishery in sea areas beyond national
jurisdiction by investing in or operating foreign flag fishing
vessels shall not commit any of the following serious
infringements:
(1) Investment in or operation of fishing vessel(s) referred to
in Article 4, paragraph 2;
(2) Fishing without permission from the flag State;
(3) Conducting transshipment at-sea, in-port or landing in-port
without the authorization of the flag State;
(4) Fishing in waters under national jurisdictions of coastal
State(s) without the authorization from coastal State(s);
(5) Falsifying, altering or concealing vessel name, names of
registry port, or international radio call sign;
(6) Not insatalling on board vessel monitoring system (VMS)
pursuant to the regulations of the flag State(s), intentionally
causing the VMS to misreport vessels positions, or rendering
VMS non-functional when fishing;
(7) Continuing catching species with catch limit when the total
catch of such species of the fishing vessel has exceeded the
catch limit allowed by the flag State;
(8) Fishing in prohibited fishing areas or periods established by
the international fisheries organizations;
(9) Using fishing gears prohibited by the international
fisheries organizations;
(10) Fishing for, retaining, transshipping, landing or selling
species prohibited by the international fisheries
organizations;
(11) Not submitting or filling in logbooks or catch reports , in
violation of the regulations of the flag States, or misreporting
logbooks or catch reports;
(12) Failing to file reports in accordance with Article 5, or
filing false reports;
(13) Refusing, evading, or obstructing any observer dispatched
by the flag States or international fisheries organizations for
carrying out his/her observing duties;
(14) Refusing, evading, or obstructing the investigation
conducted by the competent authority pursuant to Article 7,
paragraph 2, or the inspection conducted by the competent
authority pursuant to Article 7, paragraph 3;
(15) Concealing, altering, or destroying evidence related to
violation of this Act;
(16) Providing catch certificate documents of a fishing vessel
for the use of other fishing vessel(s), or using catch
certificate documents of other fishing vessel(s) for selling
catches caught by itself;
(17) Falsification or alteration of catch certificate documents,
using catch certificate documents not issued to the catch
concerned, or intentionally using catch certificate documents
that are falsified or altered to sell catches or fisheries
products;
(18) Participating in joint fishing with, transshipping with or
supplying any fishing vessel listed on the IUU fishing vessel
lists of the international fisheries organizations or stateless
vessel.
The prohibited fishing periods and areas referred to in
subparagraph (8), the prohibited fishing gears referred to in
subparagraph (9), the prohibited species referred to in
subparagraph (10) and the IUU fishing vessel lists referred to
in subparagraph (18) of the preceding paragraph shall be
promulgated by the competent authority.
Article 9
Any person with the nationality of the Republic of China that
invests in or operate foreign flag fishing vessels and commits
fish laundering shall be liable to imprisonment for a period
between six (6) months and three (3) years, and may be liable
to an additional criminal fine between six (6) million and
thirty (30) million New Taiwan Dollars.
In case that the representative of the legal person, or agent of
the legal or natural person commits the violations stipulated
in the preceding paragraph, in addition to punishing the
offender(s), a criminal fine as referred to in the preceding
paragraph shall also be imposed upon the legal or natural
person concerned.
A person with the nationality of the Republic of China who
commits offences provided in paragraph 1 outside the territories
of the Republic of China shall be punished in accordance with
this Act, irrespective of whether her/his act is punishable
under the law of the country where the offences are committed.
A person with the nationality of the Republic of China who
invests in or operate foreign flag fishing vessels and commits
offences provided in paragraph 1 shall be revoked the
authorization to invest in or operate foreign flag fishing
vessels by the competent authority.
Article 10
Any person with the nationality of the Republic of China that
violates Article 8, paragraph 1 shall be punished in accordance
with the following provisions, and the competent authority may
revoke his/her authorization to invest in or operate foreign
flag fishing vessels:
(1) For fishing vessel 500 Gross Tonnage (GT) and above: a fine
between 6 million and 30 million New Taiwan Dollars.
(2) For fishing vessel 100 GT and above, and less than 500 GT: a
fine between 4 million and 20 million New Taiwan Dollars.
(3) For fishing vessel less than 100 GT: a fine between 2
million and 10 million New Taiwan Dollars.
In case that the value of catches or fisheries products
concerned exceeds the fine imposed pursuant to the provisions
stipulated in the preceding paragraph, the amount of the fine
for up to 5 times of the value of such catches or fisheries
products shall be imposed.
Any person with the nationality of the Republic of China who
has committed the same provision of the serious infringements
as stipulated in Article 8, paragraph 1 for 2 times within 3
years, or different serious infringements as stipulated in
Article 8, paragraph 1 for 3 times within 3 years shall be
punished in accordance with the following provisions, and the
competent authority shall revoke his/her authorization to invest
in or operate foreign flag fishing vessels:
(1) For fishing vessel 500 GT and above: a fine between 9
million and 45 million New Taiwan Dollars.
(2) For fishing vessel 100 GT and above, and less than 500 GT: a
fine between 6 million and 30 million New Taiwan Dollars.
(3) For fishing vessel less than 100 GT: a fine between 3
million and 15 million New Taiwan Dollars.
In case that the value of catches or fisheries products
concerned exceeds the fine imposed pursuant to the provisions
stipulated in the preceding paragraph, the amount of the fine
for up to 8 times of the value of such catches or fisheries
products shall be imposed.
The value of catches or fisheries products as referred to in
paragraph 2 and 4 shall be calculated based on the average
prices of such catches or fisheries products in domestic fish
market in the preceding 3 years.
Article 11
Any person with the nationality of the Republic of China that
conducts the business of fishery in sea areas beyond national
jurisdiction by investing in or operating foreign flag fishing
vessels and commits any of the following violations shall be
imposed upon a fine between two (2) million and ten (10) million
New Taiwan Dollars, and consecutive punishment may be imposed
for repeated violations:
(1) Failing to obtain the authorization to conduct the business
of fishery in sea areas beyond national jurisdiction by
investing in or operating foreign flag fishing vessels pursuant
to Article 4, paragraph 1;
(2) Failing to comply with relevant regulations on fishing
stipulated by the flag or coastal State, in violation of
Article 6, paragraph 1; or failing to comply with the
regulations regarding authorization to fish, permitted fishing
areas, fishing periods, vessel position reporting, fishing
gears, fishing methods or catch quota, except for those
regarding the serious infringements, stipulated by the competent
authority pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 2;
(3) Refusing, evading, or obstructing to submit reports
requested by the competent authority pursuant to Article 7,
paragraph 1.
Article 12
Any person with the nationality of the Republic of China that
invests in or operate foreign fishing vessels and commits fish
laundering and at the same time invests in or operates fishing
vessels under the flag of the Republic of China may be subject
to deduction of catch quota from those allocated to the
national vessels in question at a level equivalent to the value
of the laundered fish.
Article 13
This Act shall come into force 6 months after its promulgation.
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