Food industries feel the repercussion as Thai fishing vessels stat put on shores

[Srikcir]

"their movement or gathering must be done within the scope of the law."

Under the law the boat owner and crew strikes are ILLEGAL.

Penal Code, Ttile 1, Chapter 2, Section 116:

Section 117 Whoever, instigates or causes a strike, lockout, or concerted cessation of trade or business with any person for the purpose of bringing about any change in the Laws of the Country, coercing the Government or intimidating the public, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding seven years or fine not exceeding fourteen thousand Baht, or both.

Whoever, with the knowledge of the above purpose, takes part or assists in the said strike, lock-out, or concerted cessation of trade or business with any person shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding three years or fine not exceeding six thousand Baht, or both.

If the Junta takes no legal action against the striking boat owners and crews, it is being UNEQUAL in application of law. It would mock the Organic Laws as the Rule of Law.

Not only should the Junta immediately imprison/fine the owners and their strikers, but confiscate their ships, assign them rent-free to new captains and return them to fishing with new crews if necessary.

[fred Kubasa]

GLUG, GLUG !

[KhaoNiaw]

The industry won't die. As the Navy officer pointed out, there are ships that are complying with the regulations, even if it's only 10%, so why should they have to compete against trawlers fishing illegally. Those willing to invest and go by the law and regulations should get the benefits. Let's hope the government follows through with this. Plenty of other sectors that could do with a similar clear out of the trash. The key here though is the international pressure and the realization that there really will be penalties if they don't make changes.

Edited July 2, 2015 by KhaoNiaw

[webfact]

Most fishing boats anchor on shores as Government starts D-Day against IUU fishing



BANGKOK: -- The start of the government's D-Day against illegal, unregistered and unreported (IUU) fishing yesterday has forced more than 3,000 illegal fishing boats to anchor on shores, and push up prices of seafood by 50 baht per kilogramme.

Unregistered boats in 22 provinces have started to return to sea and anchor on shores fearing legal repercussions if they set sail to fish.

The effects of the fishing “strike” are being acutely felt resulting in a marked rise in seafood prices across the country.

Prices at the Talad Sapsin seafood market located within Songkhla municipality has risen on average by 20 baht/kg which in turn resulted in relatively docile buying activity.

But today prices went up slightly as supplies have disappeared from the market.

Fishermen in Songkhla province has announced that they will be holding a coordinated fishing strike on July 4 which will mean that market fishing stalls in the province will also have to close.

But the situation was comparatively different at the Haad Narathat Beach estuary located within the Narathiwat municipality where a flotilla of fishing boats were seen heading out to sea to fish.

Fishermen here had no concerns as almost all of them had completed official registration before the June 30 deadline and have carried out all the necessary modifications prescribed by new regulations.

Seafood prices in Narathiwat province however also saw an increase of between 20 – 50 baht/kg but merchants here stated that this had nothing to do with the strikes.

They attributed the rise in prices to the warmer climate which they say contributed to a significant drop in the number of fish in local waters.

As for other fishermen located within the 22 provinces with fishing fleets, most vessel operators chose to berth their boats and put a halt to fishing activities.

At the Chumphon estuary, a large fleet of fishing boats were moored, indicating that no fishing has been carried out.

Operators admitted almost all the vessels did neither possess proper fishing licenses nor equipped with the mandatory equipment.

All have chosen to stop fishing to avoid paying the between 200,000 – 300,000 baht expenditure to refit each vessel.

Boat owners in Ranong province have also taken drastic measures and have ordered boat crews to dismantle all expensive equipment such as radars and radio communication equipment from their crafts because they expect to be shore-bound for the foreseeable future.

Fishermen here intend to adopt a ‘wait-and –see’ policy and chose to keep a close eye on the official policy forbidding illegal fishing vessels to fish in Thai waters.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/most-fishing-boats-anchor-on-shores-as-government-starts-d-day-against-iuu-fishing


-- Thai PBS 2015-07-02

[NickJ]

I would bet that if you started to ask the average Thai.....they are in the dark when it comes to this issue.........Ask a couple.

It is ingrained in them to not react or care and to forget fast.

Edited July 2, 2015 by NickJ

[seajae]

shows how totally stupid they are, they are refusing to go out fishing because the govt will not allow them to do it illegally as they have been doing for years, why doesn't the govt just seize the boats and equipment along with all their assets seeing they admit to illegal fishing and give it to people that will comply then toss these captains/owners sorry <deleted> onto jail. Cannot believe how pathetic these people actually are, they seem to think they can do as they please with no repercussions, hopefully the govt has the balls to crack down on them.

[chilli42]

Why would anyone miss these clowns? Let them exit the industry and sell their boats. Someone will be happy to step up and follow the rules. Do they really think anyone will care if they are on a stop work protest?

[FangFerang]

They are trying to blackmail the government, which might work.

They want easy-to-avoid regulations, GPS systems that can be hacked, and scales that weigh fish according to whim. They only want what the rice millers and warehouses have had all these many years.

It's only fair.

[Traveling Sailor]

Why would anyone miss these clowns? Let them exit the industry and sell their boats. Someone will be happy to step up and follow the rules. Do they really think anyone will care if they are on a stop work protest?

Amen, brother. These dummies are only taking money out of their own pocket. They have had six months to get with the program. Let them and their families suffer for a while. Eventually, reality will sink in and they'll realize there is a new game in town. And, if they don't, so what? Others will soon take their place.

[alocacoc]

I'm happy for the fishes.

[Oziex1]

Don't allow them back in the fishing fleet, the diminishing resource (fish) require smaller fleets everywhere.

Perfect Time to allow less boats to catch fish and still make a living, on top of all this sound sustainable fishing strategies need to be implemented.

[ggt]

The Thai government needs to become proactive to keep the Thai fishing industry from imploding...

Give free classes for captain licenses...Inspect the boats and deliver the captain a punch-list of items to bring the boats up to par with regulations...

Encourage captains to hire only documented workers and alert them of unannounced inspections and sever penalties for undocumented workers...

Thai seafood industry is too important to play political gamesmanship and bring the industry to a grinding halt...IMHO

[Peabody]

Thai fishing industry: too big to fail?

[Thai at Heart]

The customer apparently is wrong and can **** ***. Good strategy

[Thai at Heart]

Only in Thailand could the response to the customer asking for an organisation to comply with the law, be that they will down tools.

European buyers are booking their tickets elsewhere already

[Jonmarleesco]

Don't look for sympathy. Put pressure on the boat owners. It's only a matter of time, anyway. Assuming the government doesn't give way - and Prayut is unlikely to do that - the owners will.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

For me, I can perfectly well do without the product that these pirates of the sea provide....

As for their protest, all they're doing is hurting fellow Thai workers and Thai businesses. Hope they're really proud of themselves!

[englishoak]

They should have the illegal and unlicensed boats refusing to comply seized. End of

Unfortunately these fishing "mafia" couldnt care less about enslaving people and dumping crew over the side if they are trouble, dont think for a moment they care about being legal and some of these "fleets" are very well funded and belong to some real nasty and rich people with some influence.

They arnt likely to watch it all go away quielty, and yknow what ? given the location, the political genre and money or influence involved I dont think the fishermen blockading are going to feel the might of the Junta cracking down.

They will find some way to hang on and wait until the EU gives them a breather then itll be back to the old tricks immediately...just watch.

Edited July 2, 2015 by englishoak

[26vinny]

if it stops slavery, lets the oceans resources replenish and gets rid of the brutal Thai boat( owners) MURDERERS.Then let it collapse, Pathetic excuses, something one would expect from a 5 year old.Prosecute thai people.like you prosecute FALANG.when they break the law, don`t just sit down in denial,and move to inactive post, LAUGHING STOCK OF THE WORLD, THAI LAW,That`s why you are on a YELLOWCARD. REDCARD and full stop on all trading with thailand if i had my way. i take my hat off to the students as well,protesting against military law, showing some balls, shames the rest of society, and shows how weak it really is

[kennw]

Didnt think it would be that easy to stop overfishing !

[AlQaholic]

Golden opportunity for importers of EU, Australian and American fish products, now those prices will be competitive in the local market.

[Nobb]

Temporary stoppage for a permanent solution. They act like animals that lived in the wild with no one telling them what the laws are. There bills will start to pile up on them and they will be back in no time. If you own a fishing boat and you can not pay 200,000 to 300,000 baht to make your vessel right some thing is wrong. You will loose that much by letting your vessels on the shores!