The government of Thailand is about to reverse eight years of progress.
Following the elections in Thailand this year, the new government is promising to “unlock” fisheries by reducing regulation and transparency around vessels’ activities. This includes rolling back the hard-won regulations in fisheries which were put in place to defend human rights and the ocean, following decades of egregious abuses and environmental degradation.
Last month, along with 90 other civil society organizations (CSOs) including Oceana, Greenpeace and Conservation International, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) signed a statement which was sent to Prime Minister Mr. Srettha Thavisin, requesting that he intervene and stop the bonfire of regulations before it is too late.
In 2014 and 2015, the U.S. Department of State and the European Commission separately took individual actions against Thai vessel operators. As a consequence, Thailand fell from third in the world for seafood exports in 2012 to 13th in 2021. Prior to this, sources from 2009 to 2014 reveal the horrific working conditions the majority of fishers had to survive. Almost all fishers reported having no contract and 80% reported never feeling free. Almost 70% of fishers surveyed allegedly experienced physical or sexual abuse.
Most shockingly of all, in 2009, the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking revealed that almost 60% of crew members had witnessed executions at sea. There is a very real cost to rolling back on accountability and transparency.
EJF has spent years investigating illegal fishing and human rights abuses perpetrated by Thai fishing vessels. A 2018 investigation by EJF included undercover work in Thailand which revealed how easily recently arrived migrants, commonly unable to speak Thai and unaware of labor laws and rights, can be exploited. Looser regulations enable environmental destruction as much as workers rights abuses. Before efforts to regulate, the number of commercial vessels grew in Thailand and an absence of monitoring and surveillance meant that they would illegally fish within inshore exclusion zones and marine protected areas – leaving Thai artisanal fishers with ever-shrinking catches.
Efforts to improve fisheries management, enhance regulation and increase awareness around the industry, by both CSOs and the Thai government, have led to the tentative recovery of fish populations and improved working conditions for many. These successes have transformed Thailand to a leader in the region, restoring fisheries and its reputation.
The letter issued by CSOs calls for Mr. Thavisin to take immediate steps to ensure that the existing illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing directives and transparency mechanisms are strengthened rather than diminished.