Command centre launched for crackdown on illegal fishing

The EU gave Bangkok six months to show sincere and concrete action in tackling the problems or face a ban on Thai fishing products, which could cost billions of US dollars.

The centre is at the Royal Thai Navy head office in Bangkok and will be overseen by the Navy chief.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the centre would set fishery guidelines for implementation, improve mutual understanding with the EU, as well as coordinate with officials seeking to tackle the illegal fishing and amending fishing laws.

Under the guidelines, fishing boats that are at least 30 gross tonnes are required to keep a logbook record of leaving and entering ports. They also have to install a GPS system to keep track of the vessel’s movement. 

The log is meant to ensure that the number of personnel on board is the same when the boat returns.

Prawit said he would meet soon with representatives of the EU and would take chance to report on details and the progress of the government’s work. 

“I also want to know the reasons the EU lifted what they’ve called ‘yellow cards’ issued on some countries – what [those countries] did that satisfied the EU on the matter,” he said.

As of now the EU has not yet explained to Thailand details about the measure that could get us out of the ‘yellow card’, he said.

There will be meetings at the new fishing command centre on May 6 and May 18 to follow up on work in progress, Royal Thai Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Kraisorn Chansuwanich said. 

A vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed in about 5,000 vessels over 60 tonnes would take time to complete, he said, so he hoped the EU would understand. Cooperations from fishing boats was also vital, he said. There are about 30,000 fishing boats in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. 

Meanwhile, the Navy rounded up three fishing boats off Koh Kra in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, all registered in Vietnam, for allegedly fishing in Thai water with no permit.

The arrests were made after Thai fishing boats alerted the Navy at Songkhla about the Vietnamese boats. Later, the three boats and 15 crewmen were escorted to Songkhla, where they were charged with illegal entry and fishing without a licence. 

The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok will be contacted about their arrest. Police quoted a captain from one vessel as saying that they were from Ca Mau province in Vietnam and that he knew he was fishing in Thai waters. 

Some 64 Vietnamese vessels have been arrested for illegal fishing in Thai waters since last September.