1.       Legal Framework

·      The Thai Government overhauled its legal and policy frameworks governing Thai fisheries within the first 8 months of its reform.  The passage of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries 2015 in November 2015 and the adoption of the Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) 2015-2019 in December 2015, are two important landmarks in our reform.

·      The new Royal Ordinance provides the legislative framework for Thailand to combat IUU fishing, including strong penalties against infringements. The Royal Ordinance is now being revised to close loopholes and improve implementation. Among key areas that will be strengthened are: (1) clearer definition of artisanal fishing to improve protection and avoid exploitation by commercial fishing fleet; (2) clearer authority for DG of Fisheries to close factories; (3) transshipment licenses can now be revoked to improve efficiency of law enforcement; and (4) vessels conducting transshipment be it at port or at sea must now be registered as carrier vessels with the DoF. In addition, 2 new NCPO Orders were issued to close the gaps while the implementing rules of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries are being implemented in phases and while the Royal Ordinance is undergoing revision.

·      Relevant laws, including the Thai Vessels Act and Navigation in Thai Waters Act, are also being revised systematically to be in line with the new Royal Ordinance on Fisheries.

·      The newly adopted FMP outlines key principles and policy priorities to tackle overcapacity of the Thai fishing fleet and overfishing as well as prevent the degradation of marine resources.  An important development under the new FMP is the introduction of the new “electronic fishing license scheme (E-license)” and the “fishing-day scheme” in April 2016, which mark a transition from open-access to limited-access fisheries.

2.   Fleet Management

·        The Thai Government conducted a nation-wide survey of all existing Thai-flagged fishing vessels. As a result, Thailand now has a clear picture of its fleet structure with an up-to-date electronic vessel database called “Fishing Info”, which integrates vessel registration and fishing license databases and can provide real-time information that forms a basis for effective implementation of Thailand’s fleet management and reduction strategy. 

·        As of 30 November 2016, Thai commercial fishing fleet consists of 10,974 vessels with a valid fishing license to operate in Thai waters and 20 vessels with a valid fishing license to operate in foreign waters or the high seas.  In order to prevent illegal fishing vessels from engaging in fishing activities, the Government has issued an NCPO Order requiring all owners of these illegal vessels to report their vessel location. These illegal vessels have since been impounded, locked and painted with visible markings, and their location monitored by the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS).  Owners who did not report their vessel location have been charged and are currently being investigated.       

·        Currently, the estimated catch from Thai licensed commercial fishing vessels and artisanal vessels do not exceed the MSY and TAC level calculated in 2016.  Nonetheless, fleet-reduction measures have been adopted by the Thai Government to gradually reduce the number of the Thai fishing fleet to ensure that Thailand continues to operate at a sustainable level by using schemes such as “change of vessel-type” from fishing to non-fishing vessels and the “Entry-Exit scheme”, which will be launched in early 2017.  

3.  Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS)

·        Significant progress to improve MCS has been achieved, such as: (1) Improving VMS technology and training VMS officials, including automatic alert systems and the upgrade of the VMS center to Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC); (2) Setting up and improving the efficiency of the 32 Port-In and Port-Out (PIPO) Control Centers and 19 Forward Inspection Points (FIPs), whereby all commercial fishing vessels greater than 30GT and all overseas fishing vessels must be equipped with VMS and are required to report to a PIPO Control Center for inspection upon porting-in and porting-out; and (3) Improving the efficiency and increasing the frequency of inspections at port, at sea and at factories.

·        Special attention was paid on overseas fishing fleet with key improvement in a number of areas, including: (1) Training and deployment of observers-on-board on Thai overseas fishing vessels (50 observers have been trained and some have been deployed since July 2016 with the number of observers required for each vessels has recently been increased to 3 to ensure better function); (2) Temporary suspension on the issuance of new overseas fishing licenses until an effective control is achieved (As a result, the number of Thai-flagged overseas fishing vessels with valid fishing license has been reduced drastically from 76 to 20); and (3) Preparing to enact new regulations requiring additional monitoring equipment on overseas fishing vessels, including a CCTV.

·        Transshipment control has been further strengthened. At-sea transshipment of aquatic animals is prohibited outside Thai waters without the presence of observers-on-board.  At-sea transshipment of seamen is prohibited both outside and inside Thai waters, except in emergency situations when the safety of the seamen is at stake.

4.  Traceability and Catch Certificate Scheme

·        Thailand has developed a national traceability system for both marine catch from Thai-flagged vessels and imported fish and fishery products to ensure that their origin and subsequent movements are accurately tracked.

·        Two new integrated electronic databases for marine catch from Thai-flagged vessels and for imported fish and fishery products are expected to be fully operational in April 2017, with real-time access by all relevant authorities. The system will strengthen the accuracy and provide cross-checking information with other electronic databases, including vessel registration and fishing license databases, to effectively trace and verify the origin of all marine catch before issuing the Catch Certificate and Processing Statement.

·        Imported fish and fishery products are now required to have additional documentations, in line with Port State Measures, in order to ensure that raw materials being processed in Thailand are free from IUU products.

5.     Labour in the Fisheries Sector

·        Key measures to combat forced labour and other forms of labour exploitation in the fisheries sector include: (1) Issuance of a “Seaman book” for migrant workers. (To date, over 50,000 migrant workers have applied for a Seaman book.); (2) Prohibiting transshipment of crew at sea and requiring all commercial fishing vessels of 30 GT and above to return to a designated port every 30 days; (3) Provision for migrant workers in fisheries sector to change employers both within and across sectors, with the latter being allowed under certain conditions to avoid creating new loopholes that may lead to exploitations (To date, over 7,000 workers on fishing vessels and close to 20,000 in seafood processing establishments have applied for this benefit); and (4) Further improving labour inspections, with over 200,000 migrant workers have been inspected at port, at sea and at seafood processing establishments to date.

6.     Law Enforcement

·      Since May 2015, 76 cases have been brought against Thai vessels operating overseas, 773 cases against Thai vessels operating in Thai waters, 115 cases against foreign and stateless vessels, and 51 cases against seafood processing establishments. Over the same period, Thailand has also taken legal actions on a total of 77 human trafficking cases in the fisheries sector.

7.  Regional Cooperation

·        Cooperation with 3^rd countries to prevent and eliminate IUU fishing cooperation places an emphasis on the exchange of information with other coastal and flag states. These information include, among others, licensing, VMS, transshipment, vessels, and Catch Certification data. In addition, new MOU on fisheries cooperation with 3^rd countries will now include a section on preventing IUU fishing. (Thailand has since signed MOU with Fiji and the Republic of Korea and is now negotiating new MOUs with 9 other countries, with 6 more in the pipeline.)

·        Under Thailand’s initiative, ASEAN is exploring the possibility of developing a Common ASEAN Fisheries Policy to strengthen ASEAN’s collective efforts in achieving sustainable and responsible fisheries.

8.  Administrative Capacity

·        Since 2015, the Government has disbursed over 50 million euros to address IUU fishing in Thailand and has committed a further 22.5 million euros for the first half of 2017 budget year.

·        Thailand has also undergone a complete re-structuring of all the agencies concerned, with an emphasis on enhancing human resources. Key re-structuring includes a new division dedicated to the combat against IUU fishing.

·        To date, DOF has since received 221 new positions, while Marine Department is in the process of acquiring 32 new positions.

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Department of European Affairs,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

February 2017