All tour and dive operators should be happy as that mean less fishing boats poaching in Marine National Parks which is good for the tourism industry in Thailand.

The EU has delivered guidelines on avoiding Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing but the NEW Thai Fisheries Act does not include compulsory fishing nets with "Turtle Excluder Device" system to save turtles.

Fishing associations should canvass the Thai administration to redeem their outdated boats to send them to scrap to protect the environment as it has been done in other countries around the world.

Posted by WhistleBlower on August 3, 2015 09:37

This fishermen forum /workshop is to late. It should have been held already last April/May. In October will be decided or a red card will be given by EU. By than the thai fishing industry is operational not ready if until now no workshops are done. Again talks, meetings, lots of papers shuffled around. But it's to late.

Posted by Kurt on August 3, 2015 14:14

this is a wonderful news. Its a great beginning to preserve marine life. Its time for us to get serious about our beautiful and abundance resource and to prevent unnecessary death of marine life.
I hope this program produce positive result.

Posted by Linda on August 4, 2015 08:15

Do not let the EU butcher the Thai Fishing Industry just like AFMA & AMSA did to the Australian Fishing Industry.
Greens Cost Jobs & The Only True Wilderness Is Between A Greenie's Ears. One will usually find that the vast majority of the fishing stopping Greenies have never done a decent day of work in their whole lives.

Posted by Capt Durkin on August 5, 2015 20:37

Illegal fishing operation fined over $2 million
Media release from The Hon Peter Dutton Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture.

6 August 2015

The Australian Government welcomes news that the crew of the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessel Perlon - detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in May this year - has been convicted of offences under the Malaysian Fisheries Act.

A Malaysian court has fined the master and the crew of the Perlon approximately AUD $600,000 and ordered forfeiture of the catch valued at approximately AUD $1.8 million.

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton said the conviction sent a strong message that the international community was united in the fight against IUU fishing vessels.

''The Australian Border Force and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority will not only continue to target IUU fishing vessels in the Australian maritime domain, but continue to work with international counterparts to share information and support investigations and prosecutions to ensure justice is done,'' Mr Dutton said.

''Malaysia is an important regional ally in the fight against IUU fishing and we are proud to work in very close partnership stamping out such trade in our region.

''I would like to extend my thanks to Malaysian authorities for their efforts on this matter and say that we look forward to working with them on similar cases in the future.''

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture Senator Richard Colbeck echoed Mr Dutton's commitment to work together with Australia's international partners to combat this global issue.

In November last year the Australian Government released the second National Plan of Action (RPOA) to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Australia and Malaysia are two out of the eleven RPOA partner nations.

''This is yet another demonstration of international cooperation successfully leading to IUU fishers being stopped,'' Senator Colbeck said.

''Earlier this year in April, following a boarding of the vessel by the then Australian Customs and Border Protection Service officers, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority were able to use their extensive networks to alert South East Asian countries of the possible arrival of this vessel into their ports, which resulted in the initial detention of the Perlon by Malaysian authorities."

''Today's outcome is a great result and would not have been possible without the relationships we have built with our neighboring countries through initiatives such as the RPOA on IUU fishing and international authorities working together to share information and take action.''

IUU fishing threatens food security, undermines the sustainability of natural marine stocks and disrupts the economic stability of communities which rely on sustainable fisheries.

The Australian Government is committed to targeting vessels involved in this trade, investigating the actions of people suspected of involvement, interrupting the supply chain of illicit catch and dismantling the business model of IUU operators.
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HOWEVER !

OK, fare enough, they got done in court & they deserved to get done.

The Australian Government, (AFMA) in all their wisdom, licensed massive factory trawlers to exploit the Patagonian Tooth Fish Fisheries resulting in a lot of dead by-catch & poor quality net damaged product.

From what I understand, the poachers were catching the Tooth Fish using the Demersal Longline hook fishing method resulting in high quality product & extremely environmentally friendly. The most conservative fishing method known to man.

It stands to reason, if one is going to exploit a fishery / natural resource, the highest price per kilogram caught is far preferable to damaged trawl product.

Have a nice day.

Posted by Capt Durkin on August 6, 2015 08:41