migrant fishermen in Taiwan

Fifteen Months at Sea, No Pay: Exploitation of Migrant Workers in Taiwan’s Fishing Industry

Antonio Prokscha
Taiwan operates the world's second-largest distant-water fishing fleet, with about 1,100 vessels sailing in international waters. Behind this economic success lies a stark reality that labour rights organisations have documented for years: the systematic exploitation of migrant workers who fall outside the protection of Taiwan's labour laws....
December 2025EnglishLaborSocial Movements9 min read

Migrant Fishermen Forced to Stay Aboard Vessels During Typhoon

Brian Hioe
Fisheries associations and shipowners in Pingtung and Kaohsiung have been criticized after Typhoon Krathom hit Taiwan. Namely, a number of Indonesian migrant fishermen were ordered by shipowners to stay onboard ships during the typhoon in order to prevent the mooring lines that connect ships to the harbor from breaking, and the ships from drifting out to sea as a result. This occurred despite heavy wind and rain advisories, which resulted in the Kaohsiung county government ordering that ships under 100 tonnes be evacuated. This mostly took place in Donggang Township in Pingtung and Cijin District in Kaohsiung....
EnglishLaborOctober 2024RaceSocial Movements4 min read

Civil Society Groups Call for Wi-fi for Migrant Fishermen

Brian Hioe
Civil society groups held a press conference in front of the Taipei Fish Market late last month to call for wi-fi access for migrant fishermen. Participant groups included the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum, the Humanity Research Consultancy, and Fospi Donggang Pingtung. Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih of the NPP was also present and DPP legislator Hung Sun-han was scheduled to attend but was later unable to make it. According to these groups, this press conference was more than half a year in planning...
EnglishLaborMarch 2023RaceSocial Movements4 min read

Efforts to Hire Fishing Inspectors Unlikely to Improve Conditions for Migrant Fishermen

Brian Hioe
The Fisheries Agency has announced that it intends to recruit 79 inspectors, as part of an initiative to increase the number of inspections carried out of migrant fishing vessels conducting deep sea fishing. This takes place, then, as part of an attempt to improve the labor conditions for migrant fishermen. The labor inspectors will primarily work in Pingtung, Kaohsiung, and Yilan...
August 2022EnglishLaborSocial Movements5 min read

Radio New Bloom #21: Ethical Supply Chains and Labor Practices with Dr. Bonny Ling

newbloomeditor
For the twenty-first episode of Radio New Bloom, we present a recording of our event from last year on December 15, 2021 with Dr. Bonny Ling. The event discussed the crucial place that Taiwan plays in global supply chains, whether in terms of semiconductors—of which Taiwan produces over half the global supply—or its fishing fleet—with Taiwan’s distant water fishing fleet ranked as the second-largest in the world. Yet Taiwan's supply chains are highly dependent on migrant labor, as in the use of migrant fishermen on Taiwan’s near and distant waters fishing fleet, as well as migrant workers in factories for semiconductor manufacturing lines. The talk, then, sought to discuss the various levers possible to push for reform regarding this very pressing issue...
EnglishMay 2022Radio New Bloom0 min read