Taiwan, March 26, 2022 – On March 25, Scalabrinians in Taiwan organized a seminar for overseas employed migrant fishers in Donggang Port in collaboration with FOSPI, Fishery Agency, and SIMN. We invited Mr. Yi-Hsien Chiu (Section Chief, Fishery Agency, COA) as a keynote speaker to talk about the regulations on the authorization and management of overseas employment of foreign crew. This is the first event of its kind held in Donggang fishing port. Over 100 fishers from local and distant water fishing attended the seminar.

The event was started with a welcoming speech from the Director of Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Fr. Ansesius Guntur, CS, and The Chairman of FOSPI, Mr. Ahmad Mudzakir. The event continued with Mr. Yi-Hsien Chiu’s speech and was followed by QnA.

During QnA, we saw the enthusiasm of the audience to communicate and ask questions to Mr. Chiu. One of the audience asked the question, “Is there any regulation that rules the duration of a fishing vessel sailing on the high seas?” Mr. Chiu responded to the question enthusiastically by saying, “Fishing industry is one of the most complicated industries. And your question is a challenge for me”. Furthermore, Mr. Chiu explained in detail the current ‘5-year Action Plan’ that has been taken by the Taiwan Government to regulate the duration of sailing for distant water fishing.

This seminar activity was held in conjunction with the FOSPI quarterly Meeting and Evaluation. Therefore, after the QnA, Scalabrinians listened to the FOSPI evaluation from the previous three months. This is a precious moment for all to see how well organized FOSPI is as a grassroots organization in the fishing port.

We are grateful to all parties who have supported this activity, especially Mr. Yi-Hsien, who came from Taipei. We are also thankful to interpreters, Stella Maris Kaohsiung staff, student volunteers, Filipino volunteers, and all migrant fishers in Donggang.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/StellaMarisKaohsiung/posts/1885413491846830