TAIWAN WEAK ON SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 003773

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PLEASE PASS AIT/W
STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC, OES/OMC - DAVID HOGAN
COMMERCE FOR NOAA/NMFS - BSCHROEDER AND TFARIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIS SENV TW JA ESTH
SUBJECT: TAIWAN WEAK ON SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION

REF: A) 2004 TAIPEI 03671 B) 2004 SECSTATE 118401


1. Summary: In preparation for upcoming AIT/TECRO bilateral
meetings on fisheries, AIT has reviewed Taiwan's efforts to
reduce sea turtle bycatch. Taiwan has not kept
comprehensive records on sea turtle bycatch, modified its
fishing gear, or educated its fishermen to prevent sea
turtle bycatch. Continued international pressure will be
necessary if progress is to be made. End Summary.

Taiwan's Involvement in Sea Turtle Conservation
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2. Taiwan has participated in a number of meetings regarding
sea turtle conservation. For example, in November 2004
Taiwan attended a meeting of the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as an observer.
The purpose of the meeting was to develop guidelines to
reduce sea turtle mortality. Also, as an observer at the
2005 meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
(IATTC),Taiwan was witness to the adoption of a resolution
for the conservation of sea turtles. Thus, Taiwan's
Fisheries Administration (FA) is well-informed about the
need to protect sea turtles.

Taiwan Cooperation Needed to Save Sea Turtles
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3. Taiwan's cooperation is essential to help protect sea
turtles. Taiwan operates the world's sixth largest fishing
fleet. Taiwan's fishing ships operate in every ocean of the
world, staying at sea for six to ten months at a time.
According to FA, Taiwan also has the largest tuna fishing
fleet in the world. Approximately six hundred ships bring
in 100,000 tons of tuna a year. Taiwan is also known for
its building of super-seiner ships. These ships are so
large that the U.S., South Korea and Fiji have lobbied for a
moratorium on their construction to help reduce over-
fishing.

Fisheries Administration (FA)
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4. As reported in reftel A, in a meeting with AIT in
November 2004, FA officials said they were increasing their
efforts to save sea turtles. They outlined specific
efforts, including improving seaturtle bycatch data,
implementing new gear modifications and educating fishermen.
In August 2005, AIT did an extensive review of what Taiwan
has done about sea turtle conservation. AIT looked at
Taiwan's efforts in three areas: collecting data on sea
turtle bycatch; introducing gear modification; and educating
and reaching out to fishermen. Little progress has been
made in any of the three areas.

Sea Turtle Bycatch Data Unreliable
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5. Taiwan's sea turtle bycatch data is both lacking and
inadequate. While observers from FA claim that the data has
been collected but not collated, the fact remains that no
published Taiwan data on sea turtle bycatch is available for
either 2004 or 2005. Furthermore, information that is
available suggests that what data has been collected is
unreliable. According to Dr Chen Tian Hsi, a scientist who
is currently responsible for reporting bycatch data for FA,
the data for 2002 and 2003 is not useful for statistical
purposes. In his words, "The field is too small to be able
to extrapolate sea turtle bycatch. Also, most of the sea
turtle bycatch occurs in the East Pacific, and FA did not
send any observers there." In the last four years FA has
sent between three to six observers a year to monitor
Taiwan's fishing vessels.


6. Prior to 2004, FA had a contract with Dr. Cheng I Jiunn
of National Ocean University to collect sea turtle data.
Dr. Cheng agrees that Taiwan's data is unreliable and told
AIT that FA discharged him in 2002 over a disagreement in
methodology used to obtain sea turtle bycatch data. FA
insisted it collect the data from the observers and give Dr.
Cheng the finished results. However, Dr. Cheng insisted
that the observers report to him directly and provide him
with the raw data. FA instead stopped funding Dr. Cheng.
Dr. Cheng told AIT "I told them that I could not put my name
on this research because it was not done properly." Dr.
Cheng believes that FA sanitizes any sea turtle data that
might reflect poorly on its operations.

7. AIT asked FA's director of Deep Sea Fisheries, Tsay Tzu
Yaw about sea turtle bycatch information for 2004 and 2005.
Tsay said that FA would not release that information because

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it is sensitive. The information would only be available at
international meetings when requested.

Gear Modification: Circle Hooks and Turtle Excluder Devices
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8. Taiwan has also failed to make notable progress in gear
modification. As noted in reftel B, circle hooks are larger
fish hooks that are designed to decrease sea turtle bycatch.
Traditional hooks are smaller and more likely to cause harm
to sea turtles. Extensive studies by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has shown that circle
hooks can decrease sea turtle bycatch rates by 90% without
affecting fish-catch rates. Turtle excluder devices (TEDS)
are devices designed for shrimp trawlers. The TEDS provide
an escape hatch for sea turtles so they do not drown when
caught in a shrimp net.


9. Taiwan has neither introduced circle hooks to the fishing
fleet nor TEDS to shrimp trawlers. Dr. Cheng Tien Hsi told
AIT that additional research is needed to determine whether
circle hooks or TEDS would make any difference on sea turtle
bycatch. His opinion was echoed by Tsay Tzu Yaw, the
director of Deep Sea Fisheries for FA. Tsay said that the
cost of modifying all ships was prohibitive when only a
small number of ships will interact with sea turtles.

Outreach to fisherman
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10. The November 2004 FAO Technical meeting on Sea Turtle
Bycatch, at which Taiwan was an observer, recommended that
governments provide equipment and training to allow
fishermen to dehook and release sea turtles that are caught.
Nonetheless, FA does not provide any equipment or train
fisherman on how to release incidentally caught sea turtles.


11. According to three observers from FA, Taiwan fishermen
might be inclined to save sea turtles if given proper
training and equipment. Sea turtles are considered gods in
Taiwanese folklore and it is believed that killing or
injuring a sea turtle can bring bad luck to the ship and its
crew. The observers believed fishermen would be implement
measures to protect sea turtles if provided the training and
equipment.

International Criticism Leads to Taiwan to Increase
Observers
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12. Taiwan's participation in international fisheries
organizations, has led it to make some progress. FA has
hired more observers to meet its obligations under
international fisheries organizations such as International
Commission on the Conservation Atlantic Tuna (ICATT) and the
Convention on Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).
ICATT and CCSBT have criticized Taiwan for its lack of data
on its tuna fishing fleet. As a result, FA's goal is to
eventually hire between thirty to sixty observers to collect
data on Taiwan's tuna fleet. In 2005, FA has increased the
number of observers in its fishing operations from 3 to 24.
FA Officials have also promised to begin using circle hooks
by the end of 2005.


13. Comment: To date, Taiwan has done little to address sea
turtle bycatch in its international fishing operations. It
is particularly troubling that, at this late stage, Taiwan
still calls for more research and tries to avoid sharing
"sensitive" turtle bycatch data with AIT. Nonetheless,
criticism from international fisheries organizations for
failure to conform to international fishing norms
(particularly in ICAAT) has led Taiwan to promise to start
using circle hooks and to hire more observers to collect
data from fishing operations. More observers may help to
improve the data being collected on incidental bycatch of
sea turtles, birds and other species. For Taiwan's data to
be reliable, however, increased international pressure is
needed to ensure Taiwan does not "sanitize" its data.
Taiwan also needs to be monitored to ensure it does indeed
start using circle hooks and starts to educate its fishermen
on preventing sea turtle bycatch. Post recommends that this
issue be put on the agenda at the next AIT/TECRO bilateral
meeting on fisheries. End comment.