IDEAL – LOBBY
25
Oceans Defender At the beginning of this year, Greenpeace reported that the MV Lung Yuin, a 3,431 ton flag of convenience refrigerated fish carrier ship, was in breach of Taiwan’s flag of convenience ordinance. The Lung Yuin has a murky past and has long been on Greenpeace’s radar. She was apprehended in Japan in 2004 for illegal fishing and has faced allegations of onboard human rights abuses in recent years. We have identified over 235 FOC vessels which should have registered with the government. To date the government has ignored this problem. You might remember the protest we staged against the Lung Yuin back in January. Our brave activists prevented the ship from leaving Kaoshiung port for several hours by locking themselves to the anchor chain.
Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency skirted their responsibility, and claimed that since the Lung Yuin is a cargo ship it did not need to register and now Chang Soon Corp, the ship’s owner, has pressed charges against Fen Kao. This case here in Taiwan has just begun and we will continue to tell the people who should be managing our oceans that they have to do their jobs and manage them for the benefit of the billions of people around the world who need the oceans for food and jobs. After all, fishing industries, governments and most importantly ordinary people like you and me, all have a vested interest in our oceans.
Kao Yu-Fen tells us why she loves her job “I want to use my knowledge to fight injustice and change the way that information is controlled by people with privilege. I want to start a public debate on our oceans, because interest groups have all the power here, but their fate affects people across the globe. I see my mission as revealing the truth, pushing the issue to the forefront of our lives, using the media, and asking the public to consider our marine planet. I love my job!”
