The announcement came at a meeting held by the Royal Thai Navy Area 3 Command to discuss the new IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing laws.
“The priority issue here is those boats that are unregistered and illegal and those that have illegal fishing equipment.
“We believe that around one hundred Phuket fishing boats with 700-800 workers have had to stop work due to the new laws,” said Phuket Fisheries Association President, Somyot Wongboonkul said.
“Those boats that use otter trawl nets and who have a licence can still work freely. However, no new otter trawl licences can be issued. This means that those who do not hold the correct licence will have to stop work until the issue is resolved.
“I want the government and involved sectors to help in adjusting the law about otter trawl fishing. I also want the deadline to meet the requirements to be extended.
“The Fishery Association of Thailand has filed a suggestion to the government to postpone the deadline date for the law enforcement for two months but there is has been no answer back so far,” he added.
He also stated that if the seafood market runs short of products the price will automatically increase by between 50 – 60 per cent.
“Phuket fishing boats sell seafood to the local Phuket market,” said Mr Somyot.
Meanwhile, The Commander of Royal Thai Navy Area 3 Adm Sayan Prasongsamret explained at the meeting that Marine Office records stated that there were 900 fishing boats bigger than 30 ton gross, however, the actual number when surveyed was around 1,200.
“We have to make a record of the exact number of fishing boats we have on a database. This information is very important for tracking the boats and creating measures to control them,” he said.
However, he also reitererated that the main concern is incorrect fishing licences.
“Around 50 per cent of fishing boats do not have the correct licence. The operators who know that their licences are incorrect should stop fishing. There are around 500 boats around the Andaman region that have the wrong licence.
“Another big problem is foreign labour on the boats. The Labour Office and provincial authorities needc to take responsible for this issue. Especially those workers who hold licences to work on several boats.
“Their data must be put in a database and their information must be available to be checked online. This is one of the biggest issues we have discussed today,” he added.
He also noted that there will be additional costs involved for fishing boat operators to meet the new laws.
“Fishing boat operators will have to have Vessel Monitoring Systems installed and this will cost them around B800 – B1,200 per month, he said.
A further meeting is being held today by the Command Center for Combating Illegal Fishing in Bangkok to discuss about the deadline for the new law enforcement and to find solutions to the previously mentioned issues.
Meanwhile, fishing boats that are not legal and not allowed to operate should be moored near Tapao Noi Island to avoid marine traffic congestion as suggested by the Marine Office.