Yatin Raudin – an Indonesian fisher working in Taiwan, described the terrifying moments when his fishing boats capsized.
According to the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board, which investigates serious accidents at sea, 29 of the 34 deaths it has examined over the past few years involved fishing boats.
Activists and fisher union representatives told TaiwanPlus that there are numerous dangers on fishing fleets and stressed that 80% of accidents are preventable, though stricter enforcement may require complex collaboration across the government.
Watch the full report on TaiwanPlus News’ YouTube channel.
Reporter: John Van Trieste Videographer: Devin Tsai Video editor: Alison Nguyen
00:00Indonesian fisher Yatin Raudin is one of the roughly 30,000 foreign nationals that crew Taiwan's fishing fleet.
00:07Unlike some of his countrymen who've reportedly suffered abuse and forced labor, he says he's had it fairly good.
00:14He gets his pay on time, and he's treated okay by his captain.
00:18But on November 6, after setting out from Ba Do Tzu port on the north coast, his boat capsized.
00:24The crew grabbed life jackets. For an hour or so, they were at the mercy of the sea until another boat rescued them.
00:50His was one of two boats to flip over that day.
00:53One captain died, and the coast guard says five people are still missing.
00:57The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board, which probes serious accidents at sea, says that 29 of the 34 deaths it's investigated over the past few years involved fishing boats.
01:08Some people who work with migrant fishers see lax enforcement of safety standards as one reason for the high number of accidents.
01:15Still, even with the state of Taiwan's fleet, Lee believes 80% of accidents are preventable, or could be, if laws were properly enforced.
01:42But for fishers like Yatin Raudin, they feel they'll have to look after themselves.
01:46Yeah, they have to be ready for themselves.
01:50They have to be ready for themselves.
01:51I mean, they don't know what happened. They don't know what happened. They don't know.
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