An alliance of public and private sector groups involved in the fisheries industry is working together to adopt international standards for use in Gulf of Thailand fisheries.
The Thai Sustainable Fisheries Roundtable (TSFR) includes state agencies and private sector groups such as the National Fisheries Association of Thailand, the Thai Overseas Fisheries Association, the Thai Fishmeal Producers Association, the Thai Feed Mill Association, the Thai Frozen Food Association, the Thai Shrimp Association, the Thai Tuna Industry Association and the Thai Food Processors' Association.
The project is called the Fishery Improvement Programme (FIP), said Pornsil Patchrintanakul, president of the Thai Feed Mill Association.
The project's main focus is to improve the efficiency of Thai fisheries management and governance, together with environmental responsibility and transparent traceability of fishery products throughout the supply chain.
"We intend to support and develop FIP in the Gulf of Thailand after the success of a similar programme in the Andaman Sea with World Wildlife Fund Thailand starting in 2014," Mr Pornsil said.
"The FIP scheme proves the government and industry's intent in creating sustainable fisheries, dealing with the EU's charges of illegal, unregulated, and unreported [IUU] fishing and curbing overfishing that has decimated fish stocks."
The programme aims to develop credible monitoring and traceability systems that reduce IUU fishing and protects those that respect the rules.
He said this will be the world's first project that applies the latest version of the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation Responsible Supply Standard, a globally accepted level designed according to FAO requirements. The standard is most suitable for Thai fisheries because the Gulf of Thailand is filled with multiple species of fish, said Mr Pornsil.
The project will partner with Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), a global non-profit organisation.