TAIWAN DEFENDS ITS PACIFIC TUNA QUOTA

UNCLAS TAIPEI 005032 SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/OMC FOR STETSON TINKHAM, EAP/TC USDOC FOR NOAA/NMFS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV EFIS TW ESTH SUBJECT: TAIWAN DEFENDS ITS PACIFIC TUNA QUOTA REF: TAIPEI 4832 ¶1. On 12/27 ESTHOFF visited Council of Agriculture Deep Sea Fisheries Director Tsay Tzu-yaw for a read out of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting held at Pohnpei, Micronesia December 12-16. News reports had indicated that Taiwan eluded potential sanctions at this meeting. Tsay confirmed the news reports and said that the Japanese delegation proposed sanctions on Taiwan's western Pacific tuna fleet similar to those imposed by the International Convention on Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) at its meeting in November this year (reftel). Tsay said that Taiwan was able to avert the sanctions by submitting detailed fishing data demonstrating that Taiwan's Pacific fishing activities fell within its allocated quota for albacore tuna. Underscoring the importance that Taiwan places on retaining its remaining deep-sea fisheries quotas, the Director of the Fisheries Administration, Shieh Dah-wen, personally headed Taiwan's delegation to the WCPFC. ¶2. Tsay dismissed rumors circulating at the WCPFC meeting that Shieh's Deputy, James Sha, might be leaving his position in the aftermath of the ICCAT sanctions (Taiwan's quota of big-eyed tuna was reduced by 70 percent). He went on to say that Sha will continue to be lead shepherd at the APEC Fisheries Working Group. Tsay confirmed that the timing was on track for the APEC Fisheries Working Group Workshop scheduled for May 8 in Taipei. He said that he looked forward to working with the team from OES/OMC on fishing- capacity issues during this meeting. PAAL