Marine Dept taking swift action against illegal fishing in Thailand

[webfact]

Marine Department taking swift action against illegal fishing in Thailand

BANGKOK, 27 April 2015 (NNT)-The Marine Department is taking a swift action against illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU) in Thailand.

According to Deputy Director General of the Marine Department Nat Japjai, relevant laws pertaining to the fishing industry have been enforced rigorously after the European Union (EU) threatened to ban seafood imports from Thailand unless the shortcomings were resolved in 6 months.

The laws are expected to keep the industry transparent and prevent human trafficking. Thailand has been accused by the EU of not complying with its anti-illegal fishing regulations.

The Marine Department is expected to make sure that every fishing vessel is registered and monitored frequently. Fishing vessels with the capacity of under 20 ton gross will be exempted from official inspection fees.

There are currently 20,000 seafood companies in Thailand with around 53,000 boats operating in the sea, 30,000 of which have so far been registered with the department.

The fishing vessels with the size of 60 ton gross and over are also required to have a tracking device, generally known as VMS, installed within 3 months.

-- NNT 2015-04-27

[Snig27]

And the age old question - why was no attempt made to enforce these laws before this?

Edited April 27, 2015 by Snig27

[Fiddlesticks]

And the age old question - why was no attempt made to enforce these laws before this?

They have been waiting to get their submarines first.

[Somtamnication]

One of the few positives coming out of this junta.

[Fat Haggis]

And the cost of these systems will be on the boat owners I presume?

The tracking systems are fine but it's will be so easy to disconnect them and dozens of them will develop electrical faults.

norhing to stop larger vessels offloading "black fish" to other vessels, or shore bases.

Put them all on quotas, once that quota has been reached the vessel is tied up and prohibited from departing the harbour till its new quota is received.

[toybits]

Yeah! Right! After ignoring it until someone blew the whistle on it. Too late for those who have to remain on that island 6 feet underground.

[Cuchulainn]

And if the European Union hadn't threatened to ban seafood imports from Thailand, would they have been so quick as to "take swift action"?

[Laughing Gravy]

I wonder will the same body who are making such swift action get the courts to go back on the decision regarding the Brit working for the EU who brought these atrocities to light and was forced to stay here until the case was heard? Now they have admitted there is a problem? it would be nice to see some acknowledgment.

[ddavidovsky]

Has this been thought through? Bottom line is that there has to be less fishing - we all accept that - but what's going to happen to all those people put out of work so suddenly? What is the plan to deal with that?

[issanaus]

Has this been thought through? Bottom line is that there has to be less fishing - we all accept that - but what's going to happen to all those people put out of work so suddenly? What is the plan to deal with that?

I doubt that it has been fully considered. I suspect that if all of the crews were "slaves" or involuntary crew then there would not be a problem apart from the repatriation of foreign crews. The reality is that the willingness and consent of the crews range on a continuum from the stereotype portrayed on TVF through to the willing who want to continue on the boats.

I do support what (on paper) appears to be happening now (presumably with enhance laws or additional regulations under existing laws (with or without Article 44 powers) BUT! There are Thai boats in international waters that have not returned to Thailand for years and in probability are operating without and legal registration. What is the risk (probability more likely) that crews will be abandoned OS as has happened in the past but on a much larger scale (Is there a plan to deal with this?)

As you say there needs to be a reduction in the effort put into fishing. Is this going to be achieved by less boats, seasonal closures, quotas or what?.

In the medium / long term the reduction in effort may make the industry more profitable if there is compliance/enforcement. Cost per kg of catch will decline by a reduced need for crew, less fuel and less maintenance of boats ......

If the industry is to restructure then there will be human and financial costs (if it is forced to restructure by the international community the costs will be higher). Who and how is the restructure to be paid for. Will this be paid by the government or by those who remain in the industry and benefit by the continuation of the industry and presumed profitability?

[DM07]

One of the few positives coming out of this junta.

...and I will believe it, when I see it happen!

Which will be the day, pigs fly!

[jonnyscot]

Quota restrictions are fine, but not a single solution since the throwbacks are likely to be dead fish anyway, also quotas are more likely to result in increased throwbacks in order to keep the bigger value fish,

there needs to be policing and changes to the types of fishing gear used, these changes will result (if properly implemented) in the younger fish escaping from the nets,,, changes such as larger mesh sizes or escape panels should help the cause depending on type of gear used of course

[Suffinator]

Headline ... Marine Department taking swift action against illegal fishing in Thailand

Not exactly accurate is it because .... According to Deputy Director General of the Marine Department Nat Japjai, relevant laws pertaining to the fishing industry have been enforced rigorously after the European Union (EU) threatened to ban seafood imports from Thailand unless the shortcomings were resolved in 6 months.

And yet there remain no reports of any officials or fishing fleet owners / captains being arrested and charged with slavery and murder.

The OP gets worse ... The laws are expected to keep the industry transparent and prevent human trafficking. Thailand has been accused by the EU of not complying with its anti-illegal fishing regulations. Yes and I suspect millions of lottery ticket holders 'expected' to win the lottery ... expecting something to happen doesn't translate in to measurable action that clearly shows something has been achieved.

The Marine Department is expected to make sure that every fishing vessel is registered and monitored frequently. Fishing vessels with the capacity of under 20 ton gross will be exempted from official inspection fees. There we go again using the word 'expected' and still nothing achieved. Like anything else in Thailand it's all about rhetoric in the hope that someone, in this case the EU, will be fooled by their BS.

As others point out ... the laws have always existed but unfortunately Thai society is so corrupt and doesn't give a crap about people providing they get their tea money which is why nothing is ever achieved and why this country is now facing a crisis.

[ChrisY1]

An impossible task for any modern government to control........how on earth are the Thais going to do this with 53000 fishing boats..........in 6 months?

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Swift action?

You mean after decades of forced slavery they will take swift action? Lip service, nothing more. They will probably just help cover it up better moving forward.

Similar the the bogus stats we get on road deaths during Songkran.

[wabothai]

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And the cost of these systems will be on the boat owners I presume?

The tracking systems are fine but it's will be so easy to disconnect them and dozens of them will develop electrical faults.

norhing to stop larger vessels offloading "black fish" to other vessels, or shore bases.

Put them all on quotas, once that quota has been reached the vessel is tied up and prohibited from departing the harbour till its new quota is received.

You would need a well organized Coast Guard for that, which I doubt is ready to take this one on.

[natway09]

Ah, but where do all the fish come from for Thailand's vast fishing industry?

Certainly not from Thai waters, they have been fished out years ago

[jonnyscot]

i havent looked into location of fishing grounds, but from what i gather theyre talking of overfishing in thai waters, appologies if im incorrect on this assumption,

if fishing in another countries waters then it aint solely thailands problem, which gets back to the best solution from what i can see is to control the equipment used for fishing and quotas matched to engine hp/vessel size, yes difficult to police 100% but its a start

Ah, but where do all the fish come from for Thailand's vast fishing industry?

Certainly not from Thai waters, they have been fished out years ago

[bheard]

60 tonnes before you need a VMS tracking device?

Is this some sort of international standard, or a Thai 'interpretation' to allow some boats go where ever they like and be untraceable?

After all, they need 'wriggle room'.

[Fat Haggis]

60 tonnes before you need a VMS tracking device?

Is this some sort of international standard, or a Thai 'interpretation' to allow some boats go where ever they like and be untraceable?

After all, they need 'wriggle room'.

Not sure I was always under the impression vessels over 30M had to be fitted with AIS, most of the time we did transits through the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean the AIS was switched off, and switched back on again once in safer waters.

[Skywalker69]

One of the few positives coming out of this junta.

...and I will believe it, when I see it happen!

Which will be the day, pigs fly!

You better have your wings ready! This is about big money for Thailand. Must be fixed.

[issanaus]

60 tonnes before you need a VMS tracking device?

Is this some sort of international standard, or a Thai 'interpretation' to allow some boats go where ever they like and be untraceable?

After all, they need 'wriggle room'.

Not sure I was always under the impression vessels over 30M had to be fitted with AIS, most of the time we did transits through the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean the AIS was switched off, and switched back on again once in safer waters.

In a lot of countries fishing vessels are exempt - I think that they have come up with this figure based on the conflicts that have occurred between Thai boats and overseas authorities. This being some kind of an attempt to stop Thai boats fishing in others countries waters without authorisation. Smaller boats are less likely to be in that situation. AFAIK all AIS come with a built in GPS further reducing the chance of claiming that the boat did not know its position. However charts in the fishing region (especial those away from shipping routes) are often inaccurate with error of a couple of km being common.

SE Asian fishing boats are a known hazard to navigation and often are unlit or not displaying the correct lights to identify them as fishing boats engaged in fishing.

[robblok]

60 tonnes before you need a VMS tracking device?

Is this some sort of international standard, or a Thai 'interpretation' to allow some boats go where ever they like and be untraceable?

After all, they need 'wriggle room'.

Not sure I was always under the impression vessels over 30M had to be fitted with AIS, most of the time we did transits through the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean the AIS was switched off, and switched back on again once in safer waters.

If fishermen can switch this off at leisure then it has absolutely no use. They would switch it off when they are in marine reserves and such and switch it on later.

[issanaus]

60 tonnes before you need a VMS tracking device?

Is this some sort of international standard, or a Thai 'interpretation' to allow some boats go where ever they like and be untraceable?

After all, they need 'wriggle room'.

Not sure I was always under the impression vessels over 30M had to be fitted with AIS, most of the time we did transits through the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean the AIS was switched off, and switched back on again once in safer waters.

If fishermen can switch this off at leisure then it has absolutely no use. They would switch it off when they are in marine reserves and such and switch it on later.

That's where regulations would come in. It would need to work like refusing to give a breath test. Switching off the AIS would leave a gap in the recorded track.

Ships could be tracked international and by other countries - this link will give you some idea

http://www.vesselfinder.com/

[EyesWideOpen]

One of the few positives coming out of this junta.

Not really. The Thai fishing industry has puts it tit into the wringer

with the threat of EU sanctions. The junta, rather than dealing with

this issue before, now has its feet held to the fire and must look

like it is doing something . I still love the dual headlines on TV

news the other day. One say the junta will correct the fishing slavery

issue in six months, and the headline above it that says the junta

has decided that it cannot be fixed in six months. Will be curious

to see what happens when sanctions start.....

[jonnyscot]

The overfishing part is nothing new, just about every country with a fishing fleet has encountered this type of problem, at the end of the day fishermen want to make as much as possible from the sea, until forced restrictions are implemented to stop the decline of fish stocks, in UK in my opinion the UK government should bear a large part of responsiblity for causing the decline of stocks in the North Sea years ago, it traded parts of UK waters to EU countries in return for other resources, thus causing problems in policing UK waters that then contained many larger EU trawlers using different types of fishing gear,,

the Norwegian authorities were largely successful in limiting and policing the numbers of British trawlers allowed to fish in their waters,, only a couple of fishery patrol vessels could successfully patrol a a limit line of maybe 200km long (a rough guess) this was successful due to the risk of very large fines, I had first hand experience of this when we were escorted into stavanger and fined an extremely hefty sum due to an honest administrative error

[englishoak]

At the moment its all just reluctant lip service and panic to be seen doing something, anything to impress and head off sanctions

i'll believe it if in 3 months they are still jailing, fining and banning these slavers.

[Fat Haggis]

60 tonnes before you need a VMS tracking device?

Is this some sort of international standard, or a Thai 'interpretation' to allow some boats go where ever they like and be untraceable?

After all, they need 'wriggle room'.

Not sure I was always under the impression vessels over 30M had to be fitted with AIS, most of the time we did transits through the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean the AIS was switched off, and switched back on again once in safer waters.

If fishermen can switch this off at leisure then it has absolutely no use. They would switch it off when they are in marine reserves and such and switch it on later.

Yes mate it can be turned off, Pirates can also use it to target vessels at random it's a double edged sword, unles it has an anti tamper device and its own power source it's about as much use as a chocolate fire guard when fishing illegally.

[bangon04]

"The Marine Department is taking a swift action against illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU) in Thailand."

Yes, of course they are....

[Balance]

Has this been thought through? Bottom line is that there has to be less fishing - we all accept that - but what's going to happen to all those people put out of work so suddenly? What is the plan to deal with that?

I doubt that it has been fully considered. I suspect that if all of the crews were "slaves" or involuntary crew then there would not be a problem apart from the repatriation of foreign crews. The reality is that the willingness and consent of the crews range on a continuum from the stereotype portrayed on TVF through to the willing who want to continue on the boats.

I do support what (on paper) appears to be happening now (presumably with enhance laws or additional regulations under existing laws (with or without Article 44 powers) BUT! There are Thai boats in international waters that have not returned to Thailand for years and in probability are operating without and legal registration. What is the risk (probability more likely) that crews will be abandoned OS as has happened in the past but on a much larger scale (Is there a plan to deal with this?)

As you say there needs to be a reduction in the effort put into fishing. Is this going to be achieved by less boats, seasonal closures, quotas or what?.

In the medium / long term the reduction in effort may make the industry more profitable if there is compliance/enforcement. Cost per kg of catch will decline by a reduced need for crew, less fuel and less maintenance of boats ......

If the industry is to restructure then there will be human and financial costs (if it is forced to restructure by the international community the costs will be higher). Who and how is the restructure to be paid for. Will this be paid by the government or by those who remain in the industry and benefit by the continuation of the industry and presumed profitability?

Fishing grounds that are at risk due to overfishing need to be closed until the stock has recovered. Then, a sustainable harvest has to be determined and enforced. Location devices should be put on all boats that are fishing. The Thai Navy can then make spot boadings to check the tonnage taken.

The risk to the boat owners for cheating has to be draconian: suggest permanent forfeiture of the boat. no appeals.

The U.S. fishing industry went through the same hardships many years ago when there was widespread overfishing. But the logic of a sustainable industry cannot be denied. It is simply what has to be done.