Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has vowed to use Section 44 of the interim charter to authorise the military to take part in official operations to tackle illegal fishing and speed up the registration of trawlers.
Workers take a break on a fishing trawler as law enforcement officers, led by 1st Naval Area Command deputy chief of staff Samreung Janso, inspect vessels at a pier in the Pran estuary in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Pran Buri district yesterday. APICHART JINAKUL
The move comes after the European Union (EU) on Tuesday issued a final warning, a so-called "yellow card" to Thailand, giving the country six months to drastically improve its measures to combat illegal fishing or face an import ban on its fishery products.
Gen Prayut admitted the problem had been allowed to drag on for too long and had not been tackled effectively.
Section 44 is not the complete solution to solving illegal fishing and human trafficking but it will help the military and other state officials jointly tackle the problems since more manpower is needed, the premier said.
"As some necessary laws are still unavailable, the order [under Section 44] must be written for the work to be carried out," Gen Prayut said.
He added that Section 44 is also aimed at enabling trawler registration to be completed in 30 to 60 days.
Citing officials, Gen Prayut said the boat registration problem now lies with long-haul vessels, adding that officials are uncertain where they all are but they risk violating laws on illegal fishing.
According to sources at the Marine Department's Ship Registration Bureau, 51,893 fishing trawlers were documented at the end of March.
There were about 1,100 boats that still needed to be registered.
Of the more than 50,000 registered vessels, 3,500 are large vessels with a capacity of more than 60 gross tonnes, 4,700 were ships with 31-60 gross tonnes, 8,000 were trawlers with 10-30 gross tonnes and the rest were smaller craft.
The prime minister said the government still has six months to tackle the problems, though he said he cannot guarantee the EU will lift the yellow card.
"I cannot say when the EU will withdraw the warning but what I can say is that we have set the illegal, unreported and unregulated [IUU] issue on the national agenda to be urgently addressed," Gen Prayut said.
He also warned that people who face legal action as a result of the use of Section 44 will ultimately go through the regular justice process.
Asked if he can give assurances that government efforts to tackle illegal fishing would prevent a boycott of Thai seafood, the premier said: "I cannot promise that because I am not the one who makes that decision," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has insisted that government efforts to crack down on illegal fishing would clearly take shape within a month.
Speaking after a meeting between subcommittees formed to combat IUU fishing Thursday, Gen Prawit admitted efforts to tackle the problem had so far failed to meet international standards.
Citing the meeting, Gen Prawit said relevant agencies have discussed legal measures that can be used, the installation of vessel monitoring system (VMS) devices to track fishing boats, as well as the forming of a committee to explain to the EU how Thai authorities have tackled the issue.
Special task forces will be set up in 319 ports in 22 provinces to inspect departing fishing boats, he said.
A meeting will be called each week to follow up on work progress and what still needs to be done, he said.
"Within a month, clear results will be evident and relevant law amendments and enactments must be in place within three months," Gen Prawit said.
Meanwhile, deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the navy had reported that 66% of trawlers fishing overseas have been equipped with the VMS system.
Not all large vessels greater than 60 gross tonnes and which are required by law to install VMS have done so, but it is possible that all can have the system fitted within three months, he said.
As for boats ranging from 30 to 60 tonnes, authorities will seek cooperation from boat operators to install VMS before applying the law.
Special task forces formed by the Marine Department can stop trawlers from leaving port if anything illegal is discovered, Mr Sansern said.
