Phuket: The Royal Thai Navy launched an operation Monday to inspect 160 fishing piers in six provinces along the Andaman coast as part of measures to tackle illegal fishing.
Rear Adm Pisai Sukwan, commander of the Third Naval Area, presided Monday over the launch of 11 inspection teams.
Each unit comprises authorities from the Royal Thai Navy, marine police, the Marine Department, the Fisheries Department and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.
A total of 160 registered fishing piers in six Andaman provinces -- Phuket, Ranong, Phangnga, Krabi, Trang and Satun -- will be inspected. The checks began Monday and will continue until Feb 13.
Rear Adm Pisai said the inspection is part of government efforts to address illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, known as IUU.
The Royal Thai Navy has been assigned by the government to establish a Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing (CCIF) to solve the problem.
The CCIF has in turn instructed the navy's 3rd Area Coordinating Centre for Maritime Interests Protection to pull together efforts to combat illegal fishing along the Andaman coastal areas.
Rear Adm Pisai said inspecting fishing piers is another important step in solving illegal fishing as piers are where seafood and marine products are unloaded from fishing vessels.
They must follow rigorous standards and be subject to checks on the origin and amount of the catch, along with hygiene.
These details are collected along with similar information obtained from the vessel owners themselves.
The 160 piers have been registered with the Fisheries Department. They will also be inspected to see if their construction is up to standards, Rear Adm Pisai.
Piers which do not meet standard requirements will be pulled down, Rear Adm Pisai added.
The Thai fishing industry has been plagued by problems for years, but the situation gained attention from the government last year when the European Union warned Thailand had not done enough to stop the IUU.
On April 21, 2015, the EU gave Thailand a "yellow card," which serves as a final warning against such unacceptable practices, and urged swifter progress in combating illegal fishing.
Thailand risks getting a red card, which means the EU would ban the country's seafood imports, if it fails to comply with international standards.