Govt aims for smoother fishing rules

Govt aims for smoother fishing rules

The government will decide next week whether to streamline the monitoring system at Port In Port Out (PIPO) centres as proposed by the fishing industry, Deputy Prime Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya said Thursday.

Gen Chatchai, who is in charge of resolving IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing, said a proposal to streamline document inspections at PIPO centres will be put up for consideration by the IUU sub-panel headed by Gen Chatchai next Wednesday. If it is agreed upon it will take effect the following day.

The PIPO centres, located in 22 coastal provinces, monitor fishing vessels as part of the government's attempts to combat IUU fishing.

They are required to examine vessels and documents concerning them, fishing gear and catches, and check on crews working on the vessels. Irregularities between information found during an inspection and what was previously submitted to them can result in PIPO centres preventing vessels going out to fish.

However, fishing operators have voiced opposition to some procedures regarding the submission of documents, saying they are redundant and hinder their work.

This led to a meeting last Saturday between the National Fisheries Association of Thailand and state authorities to try and iron out their differences.

It was found that of the 17 documents fishing operators are required to submit to PIPO centres, 10 are already filed on the PIPO database. It was agreed operators did not need to file them again to save time. These documents include trawler licences and employment contracts.

It was also initially agreed that only seven sets of documents must be presented to PIPO centres, including seabooks, logbooks, and work permits for migrant workers and crew's payslips to cut red tape.

Gen Chatchai said this will help the operations of fishing vessels that comply with the regulations without compromising the ability of officials to conduct checks.

The Marine Department also has been assigned to verify the number of fishing vessels and their status within three months.

According to Gen Chatchai, some 766 fishing boats are currently impounded due to IUU-related regulations, but the government needs an updated fishing fleet database. Current information is necessary to proceed with a plan to buy fishing boats from fishermen not happy with the tougher fishing policies.

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