The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has welcomed the commitment shown by the Royal Thai Government (RTG) to address IUU fishing and the associated human rights abuses and human trafficking in the Thai seafood sector, but says more needs to be done.
Following an invitation from the RTG, executive director Steve Trent and a team from EJF met with Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan and other senior government representatives in on 9 April in Bangkok to discuss the current efforts against these issues.
Thailand’s fisheries laws have been reformed and a Vessel Monitoring System has been created that has strong potential to track Thai fishing vessels. Port inspections have also been implemented on vessels leaving and entering Thai ports.
Although EJF acknowledges that some significant progress has been achieved so far, it says that key improvements are needed in the breadth, effectiveness and uniform application of these and other fishery controls. EJF presented Thai officials with a series of recommendations setting these out. Thailand has also been strongly encouraged to complete the ratification and implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement, an international treaty designed to stop IUU fish entering ports and gaining access to markets.
In order to adequately address the human trafficking, forced, bonded and slave labour situation, additional legislative measures are required. EJF recommended that the RTG takes steps for the near-term signing and ratification of ILO Convention C188 to improve labour conditions on Thai vessels, as well as Conventions C87 and C98, which would enable the largely migrant workforce on Thai vessels freedom of association and collective bargaining. EJF also recommended an urgent investment in translation and language capabilities of Thai officials responsible for investigating labour abuses, as part of a broader move to a victim-centred approach to these investigations.
While several steps and reforms have been introduced, wider and more structural measures are required to guarantee that the ongoing issues and remaining gaps can be sustainably resolved. EJF says it will continue to urge the RTG to build on its early steps to ensure that IUU and the associated human rights abuses and human trafficking can be effectively addressed.
