(Information Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand, on Thu Jun 27, 2019, 07:31:47 pm)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand

กระทรวงการต่างประเทศ

During 10 - 14 June 2019 the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives together with SeaWeb co-organised the “15th SeaWeb Seafood Summit: Seafood Sustainability” at Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok. The aim of the conference was to provide a platform for representatives of various stakeholders, such as, fishermen, entrepreneurs, fishing communities, industries, government sector, private sector, academia, civil society organisations, and the media from around the world to exchange ideas and build networks to promote best practices in food security and sustainable marine resources.

On 11 June 2019, Mr. Adisorn Promthep, Director-General of the Department of Fisheries, delivered his remarks on Thailand's fight against Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, which aimed to promote the sustainability of marine resources, emphasising that sustainability could not be achieved without the full support and cooperation from all stakeholders in the combat against IUU fishing and the enhancement of regional cooperation on fishery based on a balance between economic, social and marine resources. Additionally, the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries participated in two seminars entitled “Out of the shadow: Combatting IUU Fishing through a Rapid Increase in Transparency”, which was moderated by Mr. Steve Trent, Executive Director of Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), followed by the second seminar entitled “Overcoming Barriers to Change within Fishery Management Systems” which allowed participants to share their experiences and views on various topics such as fishery management for the sustainability of resources and fishery management at regional and national levels.

The participants of the conference also had the opportunity to visit the Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC) at the Department of Fisheries, set up to ensure effective control and surveillance of fishing vessels to prevent illegal fishing, and the PIPO (Port-in Port-out) Centre in Samut Sakorn Province as well as to observe the inspection of fishing vessels, fishing equipment and labour. Such operations are in line with the current measures Thailand has put in place to combat IUU fishing and prevent forced labour and human trafficking.