The government has assured a European NGO that it has rolled out various stringent measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including vessel registration and using drones to monitor fishing boats.
The assurances were relayed by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon to Steve Trent, executive director of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a UK-based body working to protect the environment and human rights, at the Defence Ministry yesterday.
Defence Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said Gen Prawit, who is also defence minister, thanked the EJF for assisting Thailand in tackling illegal fishing.
Gen Prawit also updated him with key measures Thailand has adopted to deal with the problem, including registering nearly all fishing boats in the country, the spokesman said.
Efforts are being stepped up to stave off illegal fishing in the country's territorial waters by using drones as well as checks to monitor trawlers, he said.
To strengthen law enforcement, a special working team has been set up to speed up investigations into alleged offences.
A law is being drafted to allow the government to ratify International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, Lt Gen Kongcheep said, citing Gen Prawit.
Undocumented migrant workers were being urged to register with authorities by the end of this month, while the nationality verification process for them must be completed by the end of June, the spokesman said.
Authorities are also working to ensure the employers of fishing crews pay salaries through bank accounts while their employees must have fair working contracts, he said.
According to Lt Gen Kongcheep, Thailand stands ready to promote tackling IUU fishing problems within Asean. He said the EJF was also invited to take part in this effort.
The European Union gave Thailand a "yellow card", or a final warning, in 2015 for its failure to effectively stop IUU fishing. A ban on the export of processed seafood to Europe is likely if Thailand is deemed to have failed to fix listed shortcomings.
Gen Prawit also sought cooperation from the EJF to ensure Thailand would have the yellow card rescinded quickly, Lt Gen Kongcheep said.
Mr Trent and other members of the EJF meanwhile thanked the government for paying attention to tackling the IUU fishing problem.
Although Thailand faces some problems in addressing the issue, in the long run such efforts would benefit fishermen themselves and younger generations, Mr Trent said.
