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THAILAND / ILLEGAL FISHING
STORY: THAILAND / ILLEGAL FISHING
TRT: 4:37
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 MAY 2019, DOMESTIC PORT, SAMUT SAKORN, THAILAND / 24 MAY 2019, SAMUT PRAKAN, THAILAN / 21 MAY 2019, BANGKOK, THAILAND / 5 MARCH 2017, SATUN, THAILAND / SEPTEMBER 2018, MALDIVES / JULY 2016, ROME, ITALY
24 MAY 2019, DOMESTIC PORT, SAMUT SAKORN, THAILAND
1. Wide shot, lifting fish catch from ship’s hold
2. Close up, hands grabbing containers of fish and passing them on
3. Wide shot, man passes on container of fish and it’s passed into truck
4. Wide shot, men pass fish into truck
5. Wide shot, hands passing along container of fish
6. Wide shot, men passing containers of fish into truck
7. Wide shot, stacking containers of fish onto a truck
5 MARCH 2017, SATUN, THAILAND
8. Wide shot, boat in ocean moving in the ocean
21 MAY 2019, BANGKOK, THAILAND
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Nicol, Senior Fishery Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
“The loss of fish due to IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) impacts our ability to know now sustainable our fisheries are and what are the sensible catch limits that should be regulated around our fisheries. IUU fishing removes income away from honest fishers and from economies that might be dependent on those fisheries.”
SEPTEMBER 2018, FISH PROCESSING FACTORY, MALDIVES
10. Various shots, tuna
24 MAY 2019, DESIGNATED INTERNATIONAL PORT, SAMUT PRAKAN, THAILAND
11. Various shots, Port State Fishery inspectors walking to a vessel
12. Wide shot, inspectors interview shipmaster
13. Various shots, Jaruwan Sonphatkaew, Port State Fishery Inspector talks to shipmaster
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jaruwan Sonphatkaew, Port State Fishery Inspector:
“We compare the original documents to the copies they had submitted for the advances request to enter form. Then after that we check the logbook. We check the VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) unit.”
15. Wide shot, boat staff showing log book to Jaruwan Sonphatkaew, Port State Fishery Inspector
16. Close up, vessel’s log book
17. Various shots, boat staff showing inspectors Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) unit
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Jaruwan Sonphatkaew, Port State Fishery Inspector:
“And then we issue the Port Inspection Report. It’s called the PIR. This PIR we also distribute to the flagstate of the vessel as well as according to the guidelines of the PSM agreement (Port State Measures Agreement). After that we allow the offloading or the use of the port. The vessel can start to continue their activities requested. During the offloading we observe the weight and species of the fish. “
19. Wide shot, contents of fish hold pan to inspector officer observe the contents of the fish and staff of vessel
20. Various shots, Thai workers sort through frozen tuna in the fish hold to prepare to be lifted out by net
21 MAY 2019, DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES, FISHERIES MONITORING CENTER, BANGKOK, THAILAND
21.SOUNDBITE (English) Adisorn Promthep, Director General Department of Fisheries of Thailand:
“The market is one thing that I think is a good tool to eliminate or fight against IUU. Not just try to catch them in the acts when they do the fishing. It’s very difficult because the ocean is so huge. However, if they cannot sell their products this is the most important part that we can control.”
24 MAY 2019, DESIGNATED INTERNATIONAL PORT, SAMUT PRAKAN, THAILAND
22. Various shots, vessel staff and Thai workers prepare a net full of frozen tuna to be lifted by net, the net is pulled up and lifted out of the hold
21 MAY 2019, DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES, FISHERIES MONITORING CENTER, BANGKOK, THAILAND
23. Various shots, the fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance centre in Bangkok
24 MAY 2019, DOMESTIC PORT, SAMUT SAKORN, THAILAND
24. Various shots, port inspectors checking passports and documents of a fishing crew of a domestic Thailand vessel
25. Various shots, inspectors come onboard a domestic fishing vessel for inspection and look in the cargo hold
24 MAY 2019, DESIGNATED INTERNATIONAL PORT, SAMUT PRAKAN, THAILAND
26. Various shots, Port State Fishery inspector looks at vessels equipment monitor
JULY 2016, ROME, ITALY
27. Various shots, fight against IUU fishing ceremony in FAO
Thailand, the world’s third largest seafood exporter, has intensified the crackdown on illegal fishing to achieve the sustainability of marine resources.
Starting from 2015, Thailand revised its legislation and legal frameworks and developed a national plan of action to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The country opened the Fisheries Monitoring Center at the Department of Fisheries, requiring all international vessels to be licensed and use a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) tracking unit, and implemented a Port In-Port Out inspection programme.
The EU removed Thailand from a list of countries failing to tackle illegal fishing this January after finding that the country had addressed significant shortcomings in its billion-dollar fisheries sector through stricter regulation of IUU fishing. Improvements included remote monitoring of fishing at sea and strengthening inspections at port.
Thai Port State Fishery inspectors at the Samut Prakarn pier south of Bangkok inspect every foreign vessels which dock at Samut Prakarn.
The inspection team photograph the vessel and compare the stated description of the vessel with what they see. They board the vessel and interview the captain and check the records and the ship’s log. They check and validate the VMS system, which is the electronic system that sends identification and location signals to the Fisheries Monitoring Center at the Department of Fisheries and other VMS stations - system that allows for data on where any ship is at any given time.
Next, the Inspectors look at the catch, and verify the species and the amount. The catch is then off-loaded. Once off-loaded, it is weighed in the truck. The final step is that the inspectors write and submit an inspection report.
Thailand acceded to the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) in May 2016.
The PSMA, an international treaty brokered by FAO, entered into force in 2016. Today, more than 100 countries have adhered or are preparing to do so.
The PSMA requires foreign vessels to submit to inspections at any port of call, if deemed necessary by port states, and for such states to share information on detected violations. The agreement strengthens prior rules requiring countries to control the activities of their own fishing fleets and is designed to raise the cost of IUU fishing by making it harder for wrongly-caught fish to be sold.
IUU fishing is estimated to account for up to 26 million tons a year, or around one-fifth of the global catch, and undermines efforts to ensure sustainable fisheries through effective fish stock management measures around the world. Currently, one-third of the world's fish stocks are being caught at biologically unsustainable levels - up threefold from the mid-1970s.
Currently, adhering Parties comprise more than half of the planet's coastal states.
The International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing is celebrated on 5 Jun 2019.
On 5 December 2017 the United Nations General Assembly agreed to a resolution proposed by FAO on sustainable fisheries, thereby declaring 5 June as the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing.
The first International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing was celebrated for the first time on 5 June 2018, with FAO as the lead agency for the new international day. The date was selected because 5 June is the date, in 2016, when the first international treaty designed to end illegal fishing – the FAO Port State Measures Agreement – entered into force.
This international day is an important opportunity to highlight efforts taking place globally, regionally and nationally to combat illegal fishing. We welcome all efforts by member countries, fisherfolk organizations, civil society organizations, the fisheries industry and consumer groups to spotlight the importance of the fight against illegal fishing on this international day.
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