Labour measures have been proposed by the Employment Department in aid of those registered migrant fishermen whose employers fail to meet requirements of illegal unregulated unreported (IUU) fishing control.
These measures have been approved by Labour Minister Surasak Kanjanarat, who revealed that it would be possible for those fishermen to file a request to work with one or two additional employers while the original one is unable to carry out normal fishing operation, Thailand National News Bureau reported.
Sector sources consulted by FIS.com explained that such measures were taken after some migrant workers had escaped from employers who have no operation license and looked for new employers.
Under these proposed measures, migrant workers are allowed to work for one or two more employers on a borrowing basis but the original employers must give consent for them to do so.
Meanwhile, the Employement Department advised employers undergoing issues to ask for help from the Labour Ministry, which would consider assistance on a case by case basis.
In connection to the steps taken to put an end to IUU fishing, the National Fisheries Association of Thailand expressed the view that the current drive would not result in more sustainable fishing practices.
Banning illegal fishing will not help nature conservation efforts, claimed Nitiwat Thirananthakun, adviser to the National Fisheries Association of Thailand.
The laws being enforced are too strict and need to be toned down to garner voluntary cooperation from fishermen,” he added.
Besides, he suggested expanding the mesh size of trawl nets, designating time periods for making catch, allocating catch quotas based on the kind of tool used, and promoting deep water fishing.
Nevertheless, non-government organizations and local fishing firms supported the measures that have been proposed to ban illegal fishing, as they consider that the majority of current fishing activities are destructive practices.
The representative of one of these NGOs, Wichoksak Ronnarongphairi stated that as much as 200,000 tonnes of the 1.2 million tonnes annually caught comprise juvenile fish that have no commercial value.
Meanwhile, several sector observers pointed out that while the latest threat of an EU fishing import ban has triggered a renewed sense of urgency in authorities, rushed actions will fail to combat illegal fishing in the long term, AAP reported.
For his part, a Bangkok-based campaigner for the Environmental Justice Foundation, Daniel Murphy, stated that improving monitoring, control and surveillance will help to tackle longstanding problems of pirate fishing, slavery and trafficking in Thailand’s fisheries industry.
But by rapidly regulating the neglected sector the government risks regularising more vessels than Thailand’s exhausted waters can support as well a significant number of vessels which have spent years openly flouting fishing laws”, Murphy added.
A Thai clampdown on illegal fishing is forcing unlicensed vessels ashore, threatening to paralyse a key industry as the country desperately tries to avoid a European Union ban on exports worth USD 1 billion a year.
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