Seafood retailers in Samut Sakhon are bracing themselves for supply shortages with many fishing-boat skippers refusing to put to sea in an attempt to avoid new, harsh penalties for illegal fishing.
Thirawat Charoensuksophon, chairman of the province's seafood retailers' association, said catches are expected to drop sharply from Saturday.
About 3,000 medium-sized fishing trawlers in all 22 coastal provinces will stop fishing today, on the eve of new penalties imposed by the government for those who fail to comply with its rules to curb illegal fishing.
It wants operators to register their fishing boats, have legal fishing licences, employ fishing gear matching the type they registered with, and install required monitoring equipment.
Mr Thirawat said if fishing activities do not resume within one month, there is likely to be a massive layoff of staff.
"The consequences are not just a shortage of seafood supplies. There are seafood workers who will lose their income because there are no jobs for them," he said.
Mr Thirawat said the association would assess the situation in a few days.
Mae Klong seafood market in Samut Songkhram province has decided to suspend business from Saturday until further notice.
On its Facebook page, management said the market will be open for business until Friday to wait for catches from other provinces to arrive.
"The last day of business for our customers is July 3. We can't say when we will open for business [again]," the message said.
In Ranong, Thawee Boonying, chairman of the provincial fisheries' association, said more than 300 fishing boats were heading back to the province to avoid legal action.
He said other businesses are likely to be affected if fishing activities are suspended for a long period.
However, he said, it may take a while for stocks to be depleted and the impact to be felt.
Asked about a shortage of seafood, he said local consumers are unlikely to be affected as small-sized fishing boats can still go about their business as usual.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat Monday, dozens of fishing trawlers were docked along a 2km stretch in Khanom district.
Kamolsak Lertpaiboon, secretary-general of the Thai Fisheries Association, said the new penalties were harsh. For example, fishing without a licence is subject to a 1 million baht fine.
"There are other regulations that the operators can't comply with in time such as the installation of radio devices or employment of engine mechanics," he said.
Sanoh Mongkolsophonrat, chairman of the Samut Prakan fishing association, said operators have decided to stop fishing as they cannot comply with the technical regulations in time.
Vice Adm Chumpol Limpikanont, of the Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing, said the crackdown will proceed as planned as operators had been given more than two months to comply.