Taiwan Flags of Convenience

Trygg Mat Tracking and Global Fishing Watch will work with the Tawainese Government and other relevant actors to support effective controls of Taiwanese owned but foreign flagged fishing vessels, and implementation of the ‘Taiwanese Act to Govern Investment in the Operation of Foreign Flag Fishing Vessels’. Known as Flag of Convenience 'FOC' vessels in Taiwan, fishing vessels that are flagged out to other countries have inherent risk in their operations as many such registries are either deliberately structured to have limited flag State responsibility, or have limited resources to control fishing operations, and have been linked to issues such as IUU fishing and labour abuses, as well as providing a structure that assists in obscuring ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO). The project partners will work with the Taiwanese government to address the key challenges to achieving effective control of FOC vessels, including: lack of information on FOC/flagged out vessels with Taiwanese UBO, limited understanding of how FOC/ flagged out vessels operate globally, limited experience in identifying and investigating these types of operations, effective port controls of FOC vessels and their catches, and limited cooperation mechanisms and communication channels with relevant flag, port and coastal States. The project brings together organizations with complementary abilities - GFW open-data and analytical tools, TMT fisheries intelligence capacity, and global relationships with countries relevant to FOC operations will be used to build on an effective support partnership with Taiwanese Fisheries Agency.