New regulatory system for fishing trawlers to start next month

The system is designed to tackle Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, as well as human trafficking in the fisheries sector.
The system has been in operation in Phuket, Ranong, Chumphon as well as Songkhla provinces |on an experimental basis since |April 1.
“At this point, we are reviewing implementation problems during its experimental phase so as to improve the system ahead of the full-scale launch,” Joompol Sanguansin, head of the Depart-ment of Fisheries, said on Sunday.
He was speaking as Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Petipong Pungbun na Ayudhya and the ministry’s top officials arrived in Phuket to check the port-in, port-out system.

Trawlers to report
“The system requires fishing trawlers with 30 tonnage gross weight to report themselves to the system’s centres both before they put to sea and after they come back,” Petipong explained.
During the experimental phase, fishing trawlers reported 223 port-outs (departures) and 143 port-ins (arrivals).
“We will raise awareness of the system among all 297 fishing piers,” Petipong said.
Some operators asked for more port-in, port-out control centres and want inspection procedures made easier, as there are many documents to be checked.
The operators also said there is still differences in advice given by officials, as some agencies advise one thing and others advise the opposite for the same issue.
Petipong said fishermen and boat operators could discuss the new requirements with relevant authorities to reach mutual agreement.
He said enforcement of the law would not be too strict at the beginning so as to give everyone time to adjust.
The minister said more laws could be introduced to tackle the IUU and related problems.