Regime prepared for EU decision on illegal fishing
The government says it has made an all-out effort to tackle illegal fishing and is ready to accept the European Union’s decision.
Thailand would continue working to address Illegal, Unreported and Unregistered (IUU) fishing regardless of the EU decision, Defence Ministry’s spokesman Maj Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich said on behalf of the government’s Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing (CCCIF).
“We are confident we have done our best to stamp out all problems in the fishing industry. From this point on, regardless of whether the EU rescinds our yellow card or issues a red card, it is not our concern as it is out of our control,” he said.
Maj Gen Kongcheep, along with other high-ranking officials from state agencies, including the Labour Ministry, Foreign Ministry, CCCIF, Fisheries Department, Marine Department, and Royal Thai Police yesterday spoke to the press at Government House to outline the progress of the government’s measures to tackle IUU.
EU representatives visit next week to inspect the progress of Thailand’s antiIUU measures.
They will be here from Jan 18-22. No word was to hand on when they expect to deliver a decision.
Representatives from the private sector and rights activists including Thai Union Group, a giant seafood producer which is a focus of criticism involving IUU in its supply chain, and the Labour Rights Promotion Network, were also present.
Pol Lt Gen Tamasak Wicharaya, assistant commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, said the number of illegal fishing cases increased last year.
The number of cases last year was 311, up from 276 in 2014, and 720 victims were assisted last year while more than 1,000 suspects were prosecuted. “We maximised law enforcement efforts against illegal fishing and human trafficking in the industry,” Pol Lt Gen Tamasak said.
In terms of cracking down on illegal seafood processing, Vice Admiral Jumpol Lumpiganon, deputy chief of staff of the Royal Thai Navy and CCCIF spokesman, said that out of 115 seafood processing factories, 52 were found to be operating illegally.
Illegal labour was found in 63 factories, of which five were temporarily suspended and another was closed.
Meanwhile, 11 shrimp peeling sheds out of 30, were closed and prosecuted for violating laws.
Between Oct 1 and Dec 29, 2015, eight cases involving forced labour in the fisheries sector were submitted to the Office of the Attorney-General.
Jiraporn Jantarasiri, deputy directorgeneral of the Marine Department, said the authorities have revoked a total of 8,024 fishing vessel licences after the owners did not report for registration. Up to 45,573 fishing vessels have been registered. A total of 2,076 trawlers — out of 2,216 — weighing more than 60 gross tonnes were equipped with Vessel Monitoring Systems.
Sek Wannamethee, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the ministry instructed all Thai embassies in Europe to issue updated information about government efforts to stamp out IUU.