History of the Association

1. Background (organizational changes since the establishment)

   In the 5th year before the Republic of China (1907), Sandiaowan Fishermen’s Association under the Keelung Subprefecture established the Sandiaowan Fishery Union, which was subsidized to carry out the net cage improvement project and then merged with the Keelung Fishery Union.

   In the 25th year of the Republic of China, Sandiaowan Fishery Cooperative was established and, in the 30th year, renamed to “Fishermen’s Association”. After the restoration of Taiwan, the association was restructured to Sandiaowan Fishery Production Cooperative; in the 39th year of the Republic of China, it was once renamed to Sandiaowan Fishermen’s Association.

   In August of the 18th year of the Republic of China, Maoao Fishery Cooperative was established in the location of No. 27 Aboriginal Area, Tianliaoyang Gongliao Village, Keelung District by 228 fishermen from Laolan, Maoao and Lailai of Gonliao Village.

   The Cooperative mainly dealt with relief assistance offered to fishing boats and fishermen, co-selling activities of agar, co-operative marketing of fishing goods and so on. In the 29th year of the Republic of China, the Cooperative was restructured to Maoao Fishery Cooperative and, in the 32nd year, renamed to Maoao Fishery Association.

   After the restoration of Taiwan, it was restructured to Maoao Fishermen's Association and Fulian Production Cooperative in November of the 35th year of the Republic of China. However, in May of the 39th year of the Republic of China, these two institutions were merged again and became Fulian Fishermen's Association.

   In the 30th year of the Republic of China, fishermen living in Aodi established Aodi Fishery Cooperative. Later in the 33rd year of the Republic of China, the Cooperative was restructured to Aodi Fishery Association. In the 38th year, the Association was divided into Aodi Fishermen's Association and Aodi Fishery Production Cooperative.

   In the 39th year, they were merged again and became Aodi Fishermen's Association, whose administrative region now covers Zhenli, Hemei and Renli.

   After the improvement made on Fishermen’s Associations in the 44th year of the Republic of China, there were three Fishermen’s Associations in the region of Gongliao including Sandiaowan Fishermen’s Association, Fulian Fishermen's Association and Aodi Fishermen's Association.

   In the 51st year of the Republic of China, Sandiaowan Fishermen’s Association and Fulian Fishermen's Association were integrated and renamed to Fulong Fishermen’s Association. The administrative region of the restructured association covered Fulong, Longmen, Fulian, Suiyu and Shuanglong; as Aodi Fishery Production Cooperative was restructured twice due to bad operations, readjustment commission was established in the 53rd year of the republic of China to reorganize relevant business activities.

   On the 65th year of the Republic of China, Fulong Fishermen’s Association and Aodi Fishermen’s Association were merged and renamed to Gongliao Fishermen’s Association in accordance with the adjusted Fishermen Association Act and Merger Plan for Fishermen's Associations of Taiwan Province

   Apart from keeping the same address as Aodi Fishermen’s Association, Fulong Fishermen’s Association also established the Fulong Office of Gongliao Fishermen’s Association to serve local fishermen.

2. Fishery Patterns and Culture

   At the beginning of the restoration of Taiwan, shipping vessels were mainly sampans and outboard fishing vessels under 5 tons.

   After the development of stick-held dip nets and long line fishing, small fishing vessels were gradually replaced by vessels around 20 tons due to the continuous progress of fishing techniques and mechanization of fisheries. Moreover, communication equipments were also added on the vessels, enabling fishermen to extend their fishing ground to Pengjia islet.

   After the expansion project of Aodi Fishing Port, small boats were replaced by or re-constructed to fishing vessels above 20 tons. Until today, local fishermen still count on fisheries and entertainment fisheries; as for stick-held dip nets and long line fishing, they are still important resources for the fishing industry.

3. Story of obtaining the Construction Budget

   The new Fishery Office Building was established on the 85th year of the Republic of China. The construction proposal was submitted by the Association’s fifth Chairman Wu Chao-Chin and a budget of NT$18 million was approved by the former Director General of Fishery Office, Agricultural and Forestry Department of Taiwan Province, Hu Hsing-Hua.

   The project was also fully supported by the next Director General Sha Chih-I and the Taipei County Government with a budget of NT$2.8 million. During this period, not only the 6th Chairman Lai Chao-Nan did the best to promote the project schedule, but also the 7th Chairman Wu Wen-I strove for another NT$9 million budget for establishing software and hardware facilities in the new Fishery Office Building.

   Also because of the former Director General Hu Hsing-Hua’s great support, the construction project of the new Fishery Office Building was successfully completed and the building was officially launched on June 27 of 2003.

   Apart from delivering our gratitude towards successive team leaders for their great contribution and efforts on promoting this project, we would also like to thank Director General of Fishery Office Hu Hsing-Hua and the Mayor of Taipei County Government Su Chen-Chang for their attentive cares on fishermen and important policies. Because of them, we have received today’s fruitful results.

4. Structure of the Organization in Brief

   Region of the Organization:

   Gongliao Township has an organizational administrative region, where its jurisdiction starts from Longdong in the north to Yinggeshi in the south, where the entire coastal line is about 25 kilometers.

   No. of Members:

   • Type A Members – 6,950 people
   • Type B Members – 15 people

   Structure:

   • Fishing Teams: 14 teams
   • Member Representatives: 41 people
   • Directors: 13 people
   • Supervisors: 3 people
   • Appointed Staffs: 19 people
   • Office: 1 (in Fulong)