Prawit positive on actions against IUU fishing
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Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan boasted Tuesday that Thailand was fully prepared to report on the progress of its clampdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to the European Union (EU) later this month.
The country has already drafted and implemented laws, especially the Fisheries Decree 2015 (revised edition) which went into effect late last year, he said citing that 31 of the decree’s 52 organic laws were published in the Royal Gazette while 21 others were pending publication.
Presenting the progress report submitted by the Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing (CCCIF) to the Cabinet Tuesday, Prawit said the authorities had checked 317 vessels in Thai waters. This, he said, went beyond the 220-vessel (10 per cent of all fishing vessels) required by the EU. He said they also checked 43 boats from outside, compared to EU's requirement of at least 73 such boats.
