Clampdown on fishing industry requires active enforcement

The European Union (EU) has voiced concern about Thailand’s willingness to tackle illegal fishing.
The statement puts additional pressure on Bangkok as the two sides are scheduled for a meeting next month to evaluate Thailand’s progress in countering illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Needless to say, the threat of import restrictions for Thai seafood is looming larger and larger.
“The dialogue is proving difficult and there remain serious concerns about the steps taken by Thailand to fight IUU fishing activities,” EU Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella wrote in a statement, adding that “further action ... cannot be ruled out”.
“Thailand’s fisheries industry has an inadequate legal framework within effective sanctions that fail to deter, poor monitoring systems, and problematic management,” the commission said.
It also warned about human trafficking and slave labour in the Thai fisheries sector.
These two items are technically part of a different set of problem but nevertheless, in the same ballpark. It would be absurd for Thailand to talk about IUU fishing activities without addressing human trafficking and slave labour.
Thailand has been given ample time to address this issue. The original warning came a year ago and an EU team made an official visit to inspect the situation in the country at the beginning of this year.
It was the dire threat of foreign trade sanctions from the EU that forced Thailand to deal with the woeful shortcomings of its fishing industry – a horror story was neglected for years. We agreed to respond quickly but from the look of it, we are dragging our feet.
In recent days, the director-general of the Department of Fisheries was abruptly transferred to an inactive post after a key indicator showed the agency’s work was behind schedule.
But punishing an officer in charge does not necessarily mean real progress. It was a way for Thailand trying to show that it is serious about the issue. But good intention is very different from good results.
This industry generates about Bt30 billion a year and we need to do a better job in protecting it. If this means complying to the standards of the buyers, so be it. Besides, we need to strive for fairness and sustainability with or without EU demands.
Instead, we fell back on bad habits – turning a blind eye to violations, not to mention the mistreatment of many fishermen whose conditions on the high seas to the factory processing lines have been described as slave-like. There is no place for things like this in the modern world.
All of us – from the consumers to the big corporation, and from the border guards who ignore or facilitate the trafficking to the labour officials who are supposed to ensure fairness – can and must play a role.
All of us have a part to play. In the EU’s case, as a consumer and a customer, they chose to make conditions for business to continue.
Many people in the government and the industry are crying foul and have at times blamed journalists for the EU taking up these problems.
But imagine if there was no pressure on the government and the industry, no demands from the EU and others in the international community, one has to wonder if the Thai authorities would act on any of this.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has put the issue high on the national agenda and employed Article 44 from the interim charter to back up his words.
But he, too, needs to understand that his reputation is at risk if his policy is not carried out thoroughly and fails to achieve its goal.
The PM snaps at reporters for asking nagging questions or blames them for trying to bring down the industry. That in itself may be a good sign but nevertheless, the problem is still far from being resolved.
Like anything, a law can be in place with sound mechanisms designed to ensure that justice prevails. But if the authorities refuse to enforce them, then these laws and regulations won’t be worth the paper it’s written on.