Thailand could face a second yellow card from the European Union ( EU) as a result of lawmakers ‘ attempts to amend the 2015 Royal Ordinance on Fisheries, which is currently in the Senate.
Wichoksak Ronnarongpairee, president of the Thai Sea Watch Association, said he disagreed with some parts of the article, particularly the correction of Segment 69.
No one may fish at night while using a nearby online with a mesh that is less than 2.5 centimeters in size according to the current area.
He claimed that the updated version will allow for overnight fishing in waters that are less than 12 navigational miles from shore.
” With a smaller size hunting nets, bigger amounts of underwater life will get caught, including larva”, he said.
The amendment” will put the nation at risk of an EU warning once because using dangerous and damaging fishing gear is a concern for the EU regarding having a green marine ecological system,” he said.
The Move Forward Party ( MPF), the party that predescended to the People’s Party ( PPP ), put forth a proposal for an amendment to the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries, which was later shelved in the previous parliament. It was after dusted off and resubmitted to the House of Representatives in 2023 by Woraphop Viriyaroj, a PP record MP, in the current congress.
The act was approved by the Lower House, and it is currently being considered for Senate. After it was formally agreed upon and approved by the House to take it on January 13, the Upper House established a special committee to examine the act. The commission has about 30 times to complete its research for the Senate’s consideration, expected later this month.
Some legislators expressed concern about the problem because they had learned that the EU is closely monitoring what happens regarding the fish act, according to Tawat Suraban, the study’s chair.
” A caution is possible if the article goes to far, particularly the issue of dangerous fishing gear and farmer’s welfare”, he said.
Tawat: Staff ‘ happiness even an issue
The 2015 Royal Ordinance on Fisheries was enacted by the Prayut Chan-o-cha state, replacing the Fisheries Act, to deal with harmful fish as well as individual prostitution. Following the US Department of State’s decision to downgrade Thailand to Tier 3, the lowest ranking on its Trafficking in Persons ( TIP ) report, and an EU threat to ban Thai seafood in 2015, the situation came to an end.
The government had hoped that the new fish law would stop illegal, unidentified, and unrestricted fishing, preserve underwater resources as a sustainable source of food, safeguard the security of seamen, and end all forms of forced labor in the fisheries industry.
The rules saw a split in the number of vessels from 10, 000 to 8, 954 at provide. Additionally, it promoted the security of the workers and outlawed harsh fishing equipment, including nets with mesh smaller than 2.5 cm. In recognition of the significant advancement the nation had made in combating IUU fishing, the EU announced on January 8, 2019 that the country had lifted the golden card in response to this work.
Although the regulation benefits the nation, legislators wanted to update it. The change is even supported by the Fisheries Department.
The Department of Fisheries ‘ director general, Bancha Sukkaew, said the law needs to be updated to keep it up-to-date and prevent redundancy with other rules.
He claimed that the new law may help the nation eat more fish, particularly stolephorus sardines, which are used for dog feed and fish sauce.
He claimed that Thailand determines the total allowed catch of stolephorus anchovies per year using the Maximum Sustainable Yield ( MSY ) of 221, 459 tonnes as a reference. But last year, the capture volume was merely 90, 000 kilos.
Thailand even imports about 20, 000 kilograms of the fish each season. The article will help the country to get more stolephorus, saving it from making unneeded exports, he said.
” Fish live for about a time,” they say. If they are not caught, they will kill naturally, which is an economical damage”, he said.
Bancha: Bill may lower goods
Interestingly, the department thinks that extra requirements should be placed in place to lessen the impact of marine ecological systems while permitting the use of good nets with meshes smaller than 2.5 cm.
For instance, the Andaman Sea year runs from May to July and fishing vessels can use the small-mesh traps to catch fish in the Gulf of Thailand from January to March.
Anchovies can only be caught on 175 qualified trawlers, and those vessels must have a tracking system that you send a monitoring signal every 15 minutes.
In contrast, the power of the lighting used for night hunting to lure the fish must not be more than 40 megawatts, he noted.
The Thai Sea Watch Association’s Mr. Wichoksak called it “ridiculous” to allow the use of fishing nets with little lattice to get anchovies because they will get all fresh fish, regardless of species.
” The price of fish is quite affordable. They are a cheap source of organic materials for the pet supply sector. He continued,” This don’t compare to what we will drop if some young bass are caught,” adding that this fish equipment will adversely affect daily catches in the future.
The article was designed with discrimination and disrespect for economic sustainability, he said.
This is unacceptable, particularly given the government’s commitment to putting a laws into place to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the government has stated.
According to a group of local fishermen, lawmakers should take into account that aquatic resources must be preserved for the next generation rather than for use immediately.
Piya Tetyam, president of the Federation of Thai Fisherfolk Association, claimed the article will cause more issues, including the risk of losing marine resources and the impact on the environment, which may cost hundreds of billions of bass periodically.
Several species of fresh fish will be caught thanks to the use of nets with little mesh sizes and the ability to use lights at night. This will ultimately drain healthy tools,” he said.
” The impact will affect the stability of fishermen’s lives because the participants are only a small business group,” he said. We must quit this article”.