Greenpeace pulls fishery documentary from YouTube after Taiwan complaints

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) A documentary on the plight of Indonesian distant-water fishers was no longer publicly available on Wednesday on Greenpeace Taiwan’s YouTube channel after it met with protests from Taiwan about weaving footage of Taiwanese fishing boats into the film that could hurt the country’s image.

The complaints by Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency and fisheries associations about the documentary, titled “Before You Eat,” came after footage of several Taiwanese fishing vessels was included in the lead-up to the disposal of the body of a migrant fisher from a Chinese fishing vessel .

Taiwan’s fisheries associations said in a joint statement Tuesday that an Indonesian fishers’ union confirmed to them that the incident took place on a Chinese fishing boat, not a Taiwanese vessel, during the union members’ visit to Taiwan last month.

Greenpeace told CNA the same day that the documentary was made by the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI), and that it was only helping to distribute it.

It will not stop distributing the film and those who ask for the link will be given access to it, said Greenpeace, an independent environmental protection organization.

The film, however, can no longer be found by simply searching it online.

The documentary includes a segment about the body of an Indonesian fisher, who died from a severe case of beriberi, being thrown into the sea from a fishing vessel. The incident was purportedly one in a series of similar events all linked to Chinese fishing vessels that made international headlines in 2020.

The segment interjects footage of several Taiwanese fishing vessels homeported in Donggang Township in the southern Taiwan county of Pingtung, drawing strong protests from Taiwan.

In a statement on April 26, the Fisheries Agency issued a “stern protest,” saying that the documentary implies Taiwan had been involved in the disposal of the body, negatively affecting its international image.

The agency demanded that Greenpeace immediately pull the video from the internet.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s fisheries associations in the joint statement threatened to file a lawsuit against Greenpeace if it did not take the video down.

Tony Lin (林涵宇), secretary-general of the Taiwan Tuna Association, told CNA that if the documentary wanted to highlight systemic problems related to the rights of fishers worldwide, it should have included footage of vessels owned by different countries, not just Taiwan.

All Taiwanese fishing vessels are required by the Fisheries Agency to report any deaths or critical injuries within 24 hours, he said, warning against slander.