1. Fishers’rights on agenda as US labor official visits

A senior US official in charge of international worker rights is in Taiwan to support the rights of workers in the fishing industry and protections for migrant workers. Thea Lee, deputy undersecretary for international labor affairs at the US Department of Labor, arrived in Taiwan on February 26^th for a five-day stay until March 1^st, a travel announcement released online by the US Bureau of International Labor Affairs said. The Fisheries Agency said that Lee is expected to visit the nation’s major ports and harbors, but her itinerary is a “closed-door format.”The Department of Labor included fish caught by Taiwanese operations on its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2020 and 2022 after several investigations and reports by international non-governmental organizations said there was systemic forced labor in Taiwan’s fishing industry.　The Fisheries Agency in 2022 amended the Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members, increasing the minimum monthly salary for migrant fishers to US$550 from US$450. The amendment also requires employers of migrant fishers to increase their life insurance coverage to NT$1.5 million (US$47,513), from NT$1 million, and to set up an employees’ hotline, the agency said.

2. CGA vessel, drones police Orchid Island traditional flying fish season

The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) dispatched a vessel and drones to areas around Orchid Island Friday to prevent tourists from disrupting the Indigenous Tao people's celebration of their annual flying fish season.In a statement, the CGA said it is taking the action to help uphold the rights of the Tao people to observe their cultural traditions unhindered, as part of a special program seeking to preserve Orchid Island's marine resources from Feb. 23 to June 14.　Regarding the festival, Taitung County government announced that all motorized vessels are forbidden from catching flying fish within three nautical miles of Orchid Island during the season, and that fishing boats weighing over 10 tons cannot catch the fish within 6 nautical miles of the coastline. Anyone who violates related regulations is subject to a fine based on the provisions of the Fisheries Act.