No decision yet on Thai fisheries

“The confidential dialogue with Thailand’s authorities is ongoing under the yellow card. 

“We can confirm that the next round of dialogue will be held in Bangkok early July,” an EC spokesman said in an e-mail to The Nation.

Speculation spread like wildfire in Thailand this week after Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on Monday that the country had been granted six more months to implement measures to tackle the problem of illegal fishing.

The Foreign Ministry quickly issued a statement clarifying Prawit’s message, saying the EC had not yet made any decision.

Then Prawit said again on the following day that the EC had sent a good sign to upgrade Thailand since his government had worked hard on the issue.

Thailand was given an official warning by the EC last year due to its inadequate legal framework and poor monitoring, control and traceability systems for the fishing industry. 

Both sides are holding confidential discussions to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. 

The latest meeting between officials and technicians of the two sides was held from May 17-19. The EC has not yet made any official comments in public after that meeting. 

On April 21, the EC put Thailand in the same context of an official warning with a yellow card to several countries including Kiribati, Sierra Leone and Trinidad and Tobago. 

In its statement, it said that like all pre-identified countries, Thailand was presented an action plan to address shortcomings. 

“The Commission is currently evaluating progress. 

“The dialogue is proving difficult and there remain serious concerns about the steps taken by Thailand to fight IUU fishing activities. 

“This means that further action by the Commission cannot be ruled out,” it said.