TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Fisheries Administration Director Hsieh Ta-wen promised yesterday that subsidies for fuel oil for set-net fishing vessels will be increased.

Hsieh made the remarks during a meeting in which he was invited by Legislator Lin Pin-kun of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union to talk with fishermen on the outlying Penghu islands to hear about the problems they have encountered in recent years.

The fishermen said the Fisheries Administration has instructed that their vessels be fitted with voyage data recorders (VDRs) to show their mileage as a basis for receiving subsidies for fuel oil.

However, a lot of the boats operating out of Penghu are set-net operations and cannot stop their engines while operating at a set spot, which means they consume more fuel oil than a simple VDR would indicate.

Hsieh agreed to raise the subsidy by 50 percent to address their grievance.