PM won't defer action against illegal fishing boats

PM won't defer action against illegal fishing boats

Workers wait unemployed on a fishing boat moored at a pier in Trat province. (Bangkok Post photo)
Workers wait unemployed on a fishing boat moored at a pier in Trat province. (Bangkok Post photo)

Operators of illegal fishing boats have had a long warning period, and from tomorrow the government will begin taking legal action against them, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday.

The prime minister was responding to calls by the operators for the government to defer the enforcement of measures against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Boat operators say they will stop fishing for two months, while they upgrade their vessels and gear.

However, Gen Prayut, speaking after the mobile cabinet meeting in Chiang Mai, said the Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing (CCCIF) had long ago given fishing boat operators a warning they must bring their vessels and gear up to standard and register them by June 30.

He said they had been given fair warning that from July 1 fishing boats that have not been properly registered, do not have legal fishing licences, do not have only approved fishing gear, and lack required equipment such as a vessel monitoring system (VMS) would face legal action.

"Despite the warning, they have not done anything to meet the requirements. They simply said they cannot.  More than 80 per cent of the existing fishing boats are illegal," the prime minister said.

"They want the government to delay the enforcement of measures against IUU fisheries. I wonder if foreign organisations would agree," Gen Prayut added.

The government launched the clampdown after the European Union (EU) issued a “yellow card”, or final warning, on April 21 this year against illegal fishing practices.

The EU said Bangkok has not taken enough action to clean up the fishing industry, and gave Thailand six months to solve the problems, or face a ban on seafood exports to EU countries. 

The prime minister said it was time the government took serious legal action against offenders, without discrimination.

He dismissed suggestions fishing boat operators were being persecuted. (continued below)

Trang Fisheries Port In Port Out Control Centre was busy on Tuesday with boat owners coming in to register their vessels. (Photo by Methee Muangkaew)

In the southern Trang province, many fishing boat owners registered their vessels at the Port In Port Out Control Centre on Tuesday, the last day for registration. A random inspection of boats in Kantang district by the centre found almost 100 boats had already installed a VMS system. However, about the same number of boats moored at the pier had not.

Sompol Jirotmontri, president of Kantang Fisheries Association, said the government was unlikely to relax the regulation, so fishing boats would have to stay in port and workers would be affected.

On the eastern coast of the Gulf, in Trat province, more than 500 legal and illegal fishing boats were moored at three piers. Problems faced by illegal boats included no registration and having foreign captains. 

Namthip Vatcharanond, an operator of fisheries-related business, said the government’s action was too harsh. A large number of boat owners had complied with 80-90% of the requirements, but had not yet been able to meet 100%.

The situation had a serious effect on workers and their families, as well as businesses in the area. No cash was circulating because there were no fish to trade, she said.  

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