Noting that the Fisheries Agency will be the first administrative organization under the central government to be relocated from Taiwan’s capital in the north to the south, Chang expressed the hope that the agency’s relocation will be carried out smoothly and serve as a paradigm for other governmental organizations to emulate in this regard.

Speaking during an Executive Yuan meeting, Chang said that after the Fisheries Agency’s relocation — a move in line with the government’s policy of bolstering the development of Taiwan’s fisheries sector — about two thirds of the agency’s 200-plus employees will be working at the Kaohsiung headquarters.

The Fisheries Agency, to be headquartered in the Ocean Going Fisheries Development Center located in the Chienchen Fishing Port complex in Kaohsiung City, will be responsible for carrying out the government’s fishery policy and providing consultation and assistance for fishery operators in central and southern Taiwan, Chang said.

The remaining one-third of Fisheries Agency employees will remain in Taipei to continue the agency’s work, including coordinating with the Legislative Yuan and providing consultation and assistance to fishery operators in the northern city of Keelung and the northern counties of Yilan and Taoyuan, Chang said.

The Taipei operations will be renamed as the Taipei Office of the Fisheries Agency, he added.

Chang said the fisheries industry is one of the most important business sectors in Taiwan, with production totaling NT$85.9 billion (US$2.6 billion) in 2006.

Of that total, about 72 percent, or NT$62 billion, was generated by fishery operators based in the southern counties of Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, he added.

It is expected that the Fisheries Agency’s relocation to Kaohsiung will facilitate the implementation of the administration’s set policy of helping boost economic growth in central and southern Taiwan and balancing regional development, Chang reiterated.

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