一、Insurance Business
(1)Fishermen and Labor Insurance. Those fishermen holding A-category membership must purchase or apply for labor insurance through the local fishermen's association. The insured fishermen are entitled to injury, disablement, childbirth, death, and elder retirement payments.
(2)The Taiwan Province's insurance for fishermen who are operating at sea was entrusted to Taiwan Life Insurance Corporation for its coverage. On April 1,1995, the 〝Measures for Taiwan Province Insurance for Fishermen Who Are Operating at Sea〞was implemented. Taiwan's fishermen who are conducting offshore or coastal fisheries or marine culture must take out an insurance policy of 300,000NT$. The premium for the required insurance policy is covered by the Taiwan Provisional Government.
(3)Insurance for Fishing Vessels. Insurance for those mid-sized and small fishing boats is undertaken by the Taiwan Province Fishing Vessels Property Insurance Cooperative which was established through the joint investment of fishermen's associations. Owners of larger fishing vessels must purchas the insurance policy themselves from public or private property insurance corporations. The government has instituted subsidy criteria for mid-sized and small fishing boats to help pay for the premium of the insurance policy. See below.
1‧Fishing Vessels weighing between 80-100 tons are subsidized 20% of the premium of the insurance policy.
2‧Fishing vessels weighing between 50-80 tons are subsidized 40% of the premium of the insurance policy.
3‧Fishing vessels weighing between 20-50 tons are subsidized 50% of the premium of the insurance policy.
4‧Fishing vessels weighing below 20 tons are subsidized 60% of the premium of the insurance policy.
二、To Manage subsidies to help fishery laborers and workers purchase fishermen's houses or apartments
(1)In order to protect the welfare of fishermen and laborers and to match the 〝Residential Loans for Assisting Laborers〞provided by the Council of Labor under the Executive Yuan, the Taiwan Provisional Government started, in the 1982 fiscal year and ending in the 1996 fiscal year, to approve loan applications for 532 house holds. During the 1996 fiscal year, 220 households were reserved for fishermen and laborers. Taiwan's fishermen received preferentail treatment by paying a low interest rate of 5.15%. The maximum amount for the loan is 1,600,000 NT$ and the term for paying back the loan is 30 years. The Taiwan Fisheries Bureau listed the expenses for subsidizing 50% of the inerest and administrative fees paid for the loan by fishermen in its budget. The purpose for doing so is to assist fisherment to purchase houses or apartments, and to alleviate fishermen's burdens.
(2)As far as repairing and remodeling fishermen's houses or apartments are concerned, the Council of Agriculture has instituted a 〝Plan for Assisting Farmers and Fishermen in House Construction〞under which each fishery household can apply for a loan for repairing its houses and to apply for a subsidy of up to 100,000NT$ for remodeling purposes. To match other plans for farmers and fishing village improvement, farmers and fishermen are assised and guided to apply for loams by paying a low interest rate of 5.075% from Taiwan Land Bank or tfeir respective fishermen's association. Each household can apply for a loan of up to 600,000NT$ which is divided into 14 installments in seven year terms the be paid back after the loan is approved. The loan is to assist fishermen in repairing and constructing their houses or apartments.
三、Sea Disaster Relief
(1)To inspire fishermen to bring the spirit of mutual assistance fully into play, when receiving SOS messages from fishing vessels operating at sea, or in accepting the request of fishermen's associations to proceed to the location to render assistance, the loss caused by the rescue efforts will be compensated and the assising vessel will be awarded with money withdraw form the Fishermen Sea Disaster Funds.
(2)Fishermen Sea Disaster Relief Funds. When a fisherman dies, is missing, or disabled from a sea disaster, in addition to applying for disaster relief and insurance payments from the governemnt in accordance with the general regulations, he or his family will also receive 350,000NT$ relief withdrawn from the funds in cases of death or disapperance, and 175,000NT$ in case of disablement. At the same time, children of the dead, missing, or disabled fishermen can also apply for scholarships or grants.
四、Day-care Center (Kindergarten)
When busy fishing seasons arrive, women of fishing villages quite often must help with the operation and management of family businesses or side businesses, which create troubles for them because they then do not have enough time to take care of their small children ones. Accordingly,
fishermen's associtaions set up daycare centers or kindergartens to help children reveive proper care and good education, so that they can grow without difficulties.
五、Fishermen's Hospital (Medical Treatment Center)
In an area where ther is lack of a good transportation system and which is short of public or private medical institutes, fishermen's associations help establish fishermen's associations help establish fishermen's hospitals or fishermen's medical treatment centers to meet fishermen's needs, so that it is much more convenient for fishermen and their relatives to receive treatment when they are ill.
六、Service Center for Seamen
In order to enhance assistance and guidance in relation to seamen's employment and to establish a seamen's reserved system, major fishing areas such as Keelung, Kaohsiung and Penhu have set up Service Centers for Seamen which manage the following matters: seamen's reserve and training, employemt guidance, supply of room and board, notarial service for signing a contract between an employer and employee, disput settlement, etc.
七、To Develop Recreational Fisheries
In addition to providing proper locations and places for recreational and resting activities, the development of recreational fisheries is also filling socail functions, which include: improving the living environment of fishing villages, advancing fishermen's welfare, promoting living quality of nationals, bringing fishery education to the activities, and introducing the ideas of environmental and resource protection.
八、Improvement of Fishermen't Living Conditions
After several years of hardwork done by fishermen, with the effective assistance and guidance of fishermen's associations, fishing villages' living conditions has improved a great deal. According to a survey on provisiona household incomes for fishery households in 1992 was 570,012NT$ which increased 64.4% in comparison with the incomes earned by fishery households five years ago. In accordance with the data given in another general survey on fishermen done by the Executive Yuan in 1990, 99.59 out of 100 fishery households have color television, 99.53 have refrigerators, 60.13 have video cassettes, and 85.85 have telephones, which again, is a significant increase compared to five years ago.