Taiwanese and Japanese fishing associations signed an agreement on search-and-rescue operations at sea on Thursday, the first nongovernmental fishery pact between Taiwan and Japan, according to fishing authorities.
The Fisheries Agency said in a statement that Huang Yi-cheng, head of the National Fishermen’s Association, inked the deal with Toshiro Shirasu, president of the Japan Fisheries Association, in New Taipei City, northern Taiwan.
Lin Chi-chang, general manager of the National Fishermen’s Association, told Kyodo News that a joint committee will be established under the agreement to help settle fishing disputes or coordinate the rescue of persons in distress at sea when an accident occurs.
“The signing of the deal marks a milestone in the bilateral negotiations that began in November 2005,” he said. “The agreement is a show of goodwill between both sides.”
The milestone came days after Taiwanese and Japanese fishermen came to a consensus on fishing order in waters off a cluster of Taiwan-claimed, Japan-administered islands in the East China Sea on March 10.
To avoid their nets becoming tangled, Taiwanese fishermen agreed to cast them from east to west in the triangle area under the Taiwan-Japan fishery agreement. They will raise their nets before noon so their Japanese counterpart can enter the area.
Japanese fishermen also agreed to inform the Suao Fishermen’s Association five days in advance should they wish to fish in that area.
Implementation of the measure is slated for April 20. If all goes well, it will be presented to the joint fishing committee.
Japan and Taiwan inked the deal on April 10 last year, ending the decades-long dispute over fishing in the contested waters rich with fish and potential deposits of oil and gas.
The bilateral fisheries pact allows Taiwanese fishing trawlers to operate in part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone near the Senkaku Islands, which are known as the Tiaoyutai in Taiwan and Diaoyu in China, which also claims them.
Both sides agreed to set up a joint fishing committee to continue negotiating on issues they failed to agree upon, including fishing in waters surrounding the Senkakus as well as waters near Japan’s Yaeyama Islands at the southernmost part of the Ryukyu Archipelago.
2014 Kyodo News International