The Establishment of the "Overseas Fishers Development Council International" Puts Taiwan on the Global Map!
On November 14 (2001), the "Overseas Fishers Development Council International" (hereafter OFDC International) held its inaugural conference, the first meeting of the board of directors and that of supervisors. In addition to Administrator Hu and Deputy- Administrator Sha, who acted as the chairman for the preparatory meeting, Vice-Chairman Lee, of the Agriculture Council, also addressed the conference, expecting the organization to assume the crucial role as puting Taiwan on the map of international fishers.
At present, there are 134 individual members and 18 group members in the OFDC International, including representatives from our industry, government, academy and relevant fishery organizations. In addition to the adoption of working projects and budgets for the year 2001 and 2002, the inaugural conference also held the elections to its board of directors and supervisors, with the result of 17 directors and 5 supervisors elected for their first term. In the inaugural meeting of the board of the directors and that of the supervisors held immediately after, there are 5 standing directors and one standing supervisor elected. Among these 5 standing directors, Vice-Chairman Lee, of the Agriculture Council, was elected as the first board chairman.
Our country is one of the six major deep-sea fishing nations in the world, and is also well known for its advanced techniques in acquaculture. Since 1970, however, it has been unable to participate in any meetings held by FAO due to political difficulties. FAO has a leading role in making global policies for the fishery management and the resource conservation. Many regional international fishery management organizations have established relevant management measures according to the agreements or strategies adopted by FAO. In recent years, in order to ensure the sustainable utilization of fishery resources, FAO has even adopted a series of agreements, action plans and strategies of conservation and manegement. Taken into consideration of their importance to the fishery development in our country, in order to fulfil our responsibility to the conservation of international fishery resources, and to ensure the sustainable management of global fishers, it is necessary for us to participate in FAO, to go through its process of relevant policy-making, so as to know the transformations of the environment of international fishers, and to meet them with necessary measures. It is hoped that in the future the establishment of OFDC International will enable us to participate in the meetings and activities of FAO in the capacity of an NGO, so as to express clearly the positions of our country.
The Charter of OFDC International states that the organization has its aims to participate in international fishery organizations; to defend the fishing rights of our country; to promote the conservation and sustainable utilization of fishery resources, and to ensure food security. OFDC International is also given the tasks to sponsor or attend the relevant international fishery meeting and activities held by FAO; to assist the Government to establish policies on the conservation and management of fishery resources; to consolidate the efforts of the industry, government and academy to promote the ideas of the conservation of fishery resources and the responsible fishers; to help our fishing and acquaculture industries to enter fishery cooperation or joint adventure with other countries; to promote the safety and welfare of the crew and to ensure their human rights; to hold public forums such as talks, research conferences and public hearings on the relevant fishery issues; to collect relevant data on national and international fishery activities and to establish websites and internet connections with similar organizations in other nations; to enhance the regional and international fishery exchange and cooperation.
OFDC International, being an institute that emphasizes both the importance of fishery development and that of the conservation of resources, is currently the only organization that can put Taiwan on the map of international fishery. It is hoped that the intervention introduced by the organization can help our country to sponsor or attain the relevant fishery meetings or activities held by FAO, and to assume tasks such as encouraging international fishery cooperation, promoting the ideas of the conservation of resources, and providing international fishery information. In the future, it is hoped that OFDC International can reach out by inviting relevant organizations in other countries to participate in the organization, so that it can become a real international organization for fishery development and conservation.
