EU to decide on Thai fishing in December !!!

Small fishing boats line the shore in Hua Hin district
 in Prachuap Khiri Khan province on Sept 27, 2015.
 (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

BRUSSELS — The European Union has given a December

deadline on whether to make a decision on banning fish

 imports from Thailand. Brussels has also issued a warning

 to Taiwan that it is not doing enough to tackle illegal fishing.

The EU has been cracking down on illegal, unreported and

 unregulated (IUU) fishing with the threat of import

restrictions. It has already banned fish caught by vessels from

 Cambodia, Guinea and Sri Lanka.

Thailand was yellow-carded by the EU in April, throwing its

 fishing industry into disarray and prompting fishermen to go

 on strike against what they said were unfair government

measures to stop illegal fishing.

The country is the world's third-largest supplier of seafood.

Relations between the EU and Thai authorities have been
described as "excellent", but the Asian country still has
 "a lot of progress to make", a European Commission official
 said on condition of anonymity.

The EU's executive had given Thailand six months to step up
the fight against illegal fishing or risk sanctions.

The six months will come to an end in October. The commission

 will then need until December to decide if the country's

exports should be blacklisted or if Bangkok has cooperated

 enough to be granted more time to fix its problems,

the official said.

 "Our objective is not to punish. Our objective is to have

 sustainable fishing worldwide," the official added. Taiwan,

which exports 13 million euros in fish annually to the EU,

 was issued a so-called yellow card on Thursday for having

"serious shortcomings" in its legal framework for fisheries,

illegal fishing sanctions that are not enough of a deterrent,

and ineffective monitoring of long-distance fleets.

 

 It now has six months to address those issues.

 The Comoros islands also received a yellow card on Thursday,

 while Ghana and Papua New Guinea had theirs lifted after

 reforming their fishing industries, the commission said.

 "Today's decisions demonstrate the determination of the EU

to bring important players on board in the fight against IUU

 fishing," its fisheries commissioner, Karmenu Vella,

 said in a statement.

 At least 15% of world fish catches are thought to be illegal,

unreported or unregulated, accounting annually for up to 26

 million tonnes of fish worth up to 10 billion euros.

EU warnings over illegal fishing are also active against Curacao,

 Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,

 the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

 

News,General,Bangkok Post, 1 Octerber 2015.

 

The state unit included  representatives from the Immigration

Police Bureau, Royal Fisheries Department, and seven

 ministries had discussed about the problem.

They resolved to have the legal affairs working group

 preparing the "National Plan of Action to Prevent,

Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated

Fishing" forward the final document to the cabinet by

 Oct 13, as well as consider combining boat registrations

 and fishing permits into a single book.

Hope all planed can do effectively to solve the problem

and the country can avoid ban from the EU.

 

Sincerely Yours.