Offshore fisheries：Trawl net、Purse seine、Long line、Gill net

The definition of offshore fisheries is fishery activity inside the range between 12 to 200 nautical miles of national exclusive economic zone. The primary fishing technique of offshore fisheries are trawl net, purse seine, long line and gill net. And the primary acting areas are southern China sea, East sea and water areas around Taiwan,

The trawl net fisheries can be separated to otter trawl and bull trawl, both of them are targeting to benthic fishes. Trawl net fishing has serious influence to the marine environment, and the government had announced that boats over 50 tons are not allowed to trawl in the sea waters less than 12 nautical miles from the shore, boats less than 50 tons are not allowed to trawl in the sea waters less than 3 nautical miles from the shore.

A purse seine fishing group is usually constituted by 5 boats, which including one seine boat, two illumination boats and two transport boats. Seine boat is in charge of the seine work, light boats are in charge of the illumination. While they are seining, all of seine and illumination boats usually anchor and stay at working area, only transport boats need to transport fishes back to harbor.

Long line, which uses several miles fishing line, ties up with many fishhooks with bait, then fishing in the sea. Depends on what fishermen want to catch, they can change the length of lines of fishhooks. There are many controversies about Lone line, because it also has huge influence to the marine environment.

Gill net is a high beneficial fishery, fishermen put the gill net into water while they are driving their boats, fishes will be caught or wound by the opened net. Gill net is often used for catching squids, tunas and salmons. Because it isn’t easy to be discovered by marine mammals, numbers of marine mammals have died. Therefore, gill net also called “the wall of death”. Right now, the gill net can’t be used anymore in Taiwan.