Thailand vows Asean common fishing policy 

  
 Speaking during the two-day “Asia Regional Conference on Building Ocean Health: Sharing experience to move towards sustainable fisheries management” in Seoul, Agriculture Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said Thailand would lead Asean in terms of setting up the common fisheries policy to create sustainable development in marine resources throughout the region. The two-day event will end today. 
 He was speaking on the topic “Efforts for effective implementation towards sustainable fisheries”.
 “The Asean community, as a major food and marine producer sharing common waters, should manage the region’s marine resources with common goals and directions, with our eyes on long-term sustainability of the regional marine resources – in particular, the fishery sector. After collaboration, a clear and tangible outcome of Asean marine sustainability should be seen within the year 2019,” the minister said.
 “To manage marine resources effectively, the Asean common fisheries policy must be grounded upon reliable academic research, and must be practically accepted,” he stressed. 
 Thailand will host the “Asean Ministers’ Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry” next March, at which hundreds of representatives of fishermen, both large- and small-scale, from all member countries can gather and voice their needs and concerns. 
 The Kingdom will then host a seminar in July, at which policy-makers, government officers, practitioners and experts from all over the world can exchange experiences and findings. 
 The results from these two gatherings of the government, private, academic and civic sectors will provide a basis for the Asean common fisheries policy, under which “everyone should move forward together without leaving anyone or any sector behind”, Chatchai told the conference. 
 The region could also join forces with South Korea, China and Japan under Asean+3 to promote cooperation in sustainable fishery for the whole region, he added. 
 Before hosting the Asean forum, Thailand will hold its own meeting with all involved from both the government and private sectors to brainstorm issues and formulate an action plan for collaboration in sustainable aquaculture and fishery processing throughout the region, the minister said. 
 Moreover, in terms of battling against illegal fishing and moving the Kingdom towards sustainable fishery, Chatchai emphasised that the government had done a great deal during the past two years and would continue to combat illegal fishing. 
 He told the other countries and international organisations attending this week’s event – Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and South Korea, plus the Environmental Justice Foundation and the World Wildlife Foundation – that the Thai government continued to place great emphasis on developing the country’s fishery sector towards sustainability in the future. 
 The government considers the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and labour issues, particularly in the fishery sector, as two of its top national agenda priorities, he said. 
 In the past two years, the prime minister and all involved have dedicated themselves to solving the problems and have seriously fought against IUU fishing and made great efforts to safeguard workers from labour abuses, he explained. 
 Thailand’s fishery sector has undergone drastic change in several ways, he said, citing the establishment of a new legal framework meeting the international standard, and the expedition of law enforcement. 
 Moreover, Thailand’s “National Plan of Action against IUU Fishing” and “Fisheries Management Plan” together put in place a course of action to rid the country of IUU fishing and launch the nation towards sustainability, the minister said.
 The Thai fleet database and the Monitor, Control and Surveillance – or MCS – system, including Port-in Port-out Control and the Vessel Monitoring System, stand ready to monitor vessel behaviour, he told attendees. 
 Meanwhile, there is a certification process for seafood product traceability to the origin of catch, in order to ensure that each catch is free of IUU practices. 

Labour issues 
As to labour issues, Thailand has enacted a law that complies with the international standard, adding new measures to pursue those who commit illegal acts involving human trafficking, child labour and forced labour, Chatchai said. 
 He added that Thailand had recently passed a law increasing the severity of penalties against those convicted of child- and forced-labour charges, as well as a law aimed at preventing migrant workers from being taken advantage of by agents or employers. In addition, conditions whereby migrant workers may move to a new employer or a new job have continued to be relaxed. 
 Thailand has also established |channels through which migrant workers can more conveniently voice their problems to government officers, including adding more labour inspectors to cover the increasing |number of migrant workers and interpreters to reduce language barriers, he said.