Business fishers are now much more difficult to enter marine protected areas that are crucial as bass nurseries and for the rejuvenation of fish populations.
Despite the organization claiming that seafood prices have dropped and fishing yields have decreased, EJF’s analysis has revealed the opposite to be true.
The EJF found, based on available get information by volume and value from the Department of Fisheries, that for almost all kinds groupings, the value of shellfish landed by Thai-flagged vessels has gone up by 48 per share, on average, between 2014 and 2022.
Additionally, there has started a little but gradual rise in stocks on coastal fishing grounds.
Catch levels in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand had dropped significantly by 2017 after decades of overcrowding.
According to data from the Department of Fisheries, catch per unit effort ( CPUE), which measures how healthy fish stocks are and is expressed in kilograms of fish caught per hour, dropped by 96 % in the Gulf and 86 % in the Andaman between 1961 and 2017.
As of 2022, the number in each ocean figure had recovered by 80 per share and 40 per cent, both.
It is “too soon ” to think about rolling back any of the conservation measures, which have the “knock-on effect ” of improving the productivity of inshore exclusion zones and the catches of artisanal fishers, said Mr Thomson.
18 handmade fish organizations last month raised concerns with the Thai congress regarding the revocation of commercial vessels ‘ permits to enter their protected fishing grounds.
These groups are still underrepresented in the law drafting committee, and there is no representation from economic or labor organizations.
WEAKENING WORKERS ’ PROTECTION “A SLIPPERY SLOPE”
While the Thai fishing industry is still a dangerous market, labor and human rights organizations claim that working conditions have improved significantly in recent years as operators have been required to properly file and pay their employees.
“The position on boats is better, workers are legitimate and they feel like they exist and are protected, ” Ms Patima said.
Then, five of the eight proposed payments support the re-authorisation of at-sea team payments, as well as dropping crew-list demands, which in the past has led to human rights abuses that are difficult to detect.
Move Forward Party is the only organization that wants to eliminate the requirement for migrant workers to carry a man text, a document that authorizes their employment on ships.
The NFAT claims that there should be a decoupling of labor laws from the fisheries laws, and that the getting and keeping staff is too expensive and cumbersome.
According to Mr. Mongkol,” I think we need to split the rules because IUU is about how we manage the boats and protect the environment, but labor is a whole other matter.”
Mr Woraphop agrees, saying the nation ’s existing labour rules adequately cover fishing issues now.
But eroding workers ’ protection is a “slippery slope”, said Mr Thomson.