After 17 years of effort, Taiwan and Japan finally concluded a major fisheries agreement. Representatives of the two sides signed the accord at the Taipei Guest House on April 10, 2013. In it, the parties for the time being set aside the dispute over sovereignty of the waters within 12 nautical miles of the Diaoyutai Islets (which are excluded from the scope of the agreement), and focus instead on delineating fishing rights in a maritime zone bounded to the north by 27° north latitude and extending south as far as Japan’s Yaeyama and Miyako Islands.

Through its various provisions, the agreement (1) guarantees the rights of Taiwan fishing vessels in a long-disputed area of overlap between the two countries’ claimed exclusive economic zones (EEZs); (2) opens up a further 4530 square kilometers of ocean within Japan’s claimed EEZ to Taiwanese fishing vessels; (3) designates a “special cooperation zone” within which the two sides will cooperate to manage fishery resources; and (4) establishes a commission to consult on the specific management of the cooperation zone, as well as other matters concerning the area designated by the agreement as a whole.

Liao Liou-yi (right), chairman of the Association of East Asian Relations, representing Taiwan, and Ohashi Mitsuo (left), chairman of the Interchange Association, representing Japan, shake hands after signing a historic fishing agreement that will protect the rights of Taiwanese fishing boats operating in the seas around the Diaoyutai Islets.

Statistics from the Fisheries Agency indicate that since 2006, there have been more than 250 incidents of fishing boats from Taiwan being interfered with by Japanese government vessels as a result of continual disputes over fishing grounds. In fact, the ROC Coast Guard Administration has on several occasions sent out craft to escort fishing boats and assert ROC sovereignty.

The just-concluded negotiating round focused mainly on resolving the issue of fishing operations within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two sides. Taiwan agreed to set aside its original insistence on a “provisional line of enforcement.” (On the map on the facing page, this is the red line that is alternately solid and broken.) Likewise, Japan agreed to shelve its demand for a “maritime boundary” that would codify its disputed EEZ claims. (Japan’s claimed boundary is not shown on this map, but would be close to the left-hand boundary of the area shaded in aquamarine coloring). Instead, the two sides simply adopted longitude and latitude lines as the basis for discussion, while explicitly adding a provision (Article 4) that nothing in the fisheries agreement could be interpreted to affect the territorial claims of either side.

Taking into account the traditional operating area of Taiwanese fishermen, negotiators set the area covered by the agreement as the sea area from 27° north latitude, extending southward almost to Japan’s Yaeyama and Miyako Islands. (This is the area in aquamarine plus the area in orange on the map.)

From the point of view of Taiwanese fishermen, boats from Japan have never operated very much in these waters, which are very rich fishing grounds producing a wide variety of species. The agreement specifies that Taiwanese fishing boats in this area will no longer be subject to Japanese law, which means that they will no longer be obstructed or interfered with by Japanese government vessels. (Japanese fishing vessels will likewise not be subject to ROC law.)

It is especially noteworthy that the agreement covers an additional 1400 square nautical miles (about 4530 km²) of fishing grounds (marked with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on the map) that the ROC has not included within its line of enforcement and which thus can be considered “extended” or “bonus” fishing grounds.

James Sha, director-general of the Fisheries Agency, says that over the last three years an average of about 800 vessels from Taiwan have conducted fishing operations in the disputed waters per year, with their average total catch being about 40,000 metric tons. Since in the future there will no longer be any interference in their operations, the total catch is expected to rise by about 20%.

There have been disputes between Taiwan and Japan over fisheries rights for a long time. In 1996, Japan unilaterally declared the existence of an exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles from its shores. Where its claimed EEZ overlapped with the potential EEZs of other countries, Japan took the midpoint between the territories over which it claims sovereignty and the territories of other countries as the basis for drawing the maritime boundary of its EEZ. This action not only harmed the interests of Taiwan’s fishing industry, but also exacerbated the dispute over the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islets.

Then last year, the Japanese government moved to buy the Diaoyutai Islets from their Japanese private owners and make them the property of the national government. This touched a raw nerve on this extremely sensitive issue that also involves claims by mainland China. Feelings ran high among all interested parties, creating uncertainty in the East Asian political situation.

In August 2012, ROC president Ma Ying-jeou, seeing the dangers of an increasingly unstable security situation in the East China Sea, launched his East China Sea Peace Initiative, which calls on all parties concerned to respect international law and resolve disputes by peaceful means. Parties should seek consensus and draw up a code of conduct for the East China Sea. Within this spirit—and also because Japan was extremely appreciative of the generous assistance the people of Taiwan extended following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011—the resumed fishing negotiations set aside sensitive questions of sovereignty and focused on technical aspects of fishing operations.

As for Taiwan, the government’s position is that the region’s resources can be shared and managed cooperatively, even as no concessions are made on sovereignty.

The successful outcome of the Taiwan–Japan fishing negotiations was hailed by the Japanese side as an “historic achievement,” while Taiwan gained a substantive victory. Relations between the two parties have improved, and hardworking Taiwanese fishermen will find their lives made a little easier.