On Thursday 19th May 2022 01:00 - 4:00 PM at the Landmark Sukhumvit Hotel, Bangkok, Thai Sustainable Fisheries Roundtable (TSFR) held a Trawl Fisheries Improvement Project in Gulf of Thailand Stakeholders' Meeting. At the meeting the Deputy Director General of Department of Fisheries, Mr. Bancha Sukkaew is a chairman for the meeting. The participants are Mr. Pornsil Patchrintanakul, the President of Thai Feed Mill Association, Mr.Amnuay Oerareemitr, the President of Thai Fishmeal Producers Association, the representative from TSFR 8 associations, Thailand Sustainable Consumption and Production Association, SEAFDEC, Fishery expert and professor from the university. The objective of the meeting is to communicating project progress and hearing the opinions from the stakeholders in the supply chain. The information presenting in the meeting are as follow.
1) The results of the latest assessment on the status of trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Thailand in 2022 against the latest MarinTrust Standard (Muti-Species assessment).
2) Fishery Action Plan (FAP) 2022.
3) The output from the Agricultural Research Development Agency (Public Organization), ARDA research during the first year which can be used to close the GAP from the MarinTrust assessment.
The Deputy Director-General of the Department of Fisheries mention over the opening of the meeting that receiving a cooperation from representatives of various agencies related government, private sector, academic department in giving opinions on the implementation plan for fisheries management in the Gulf of Thailand is vital for issuing the announcement and fisheries measures. The deputy director general has also explained that from the number of catches from 2014 before receiving the yellow card until 2021 in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, was found that the number of catches has increased in a gradual manner. Therefore, the management context from upstream to downstream must be balanced and equitable. Today's marine resources are improving. There has been a resurgence and the level must be maintained and thank you for Thai Sustainable Fisheries Roundtable (TSFR), the 8 associations to initiate FIP and working with the Department of Fisheries. The Department of Fisheries is pleased to cooperate in developing the Fishery Action Plan and further development. After the meeting the next steps will proceed as follow.
1) The data obtained from the stakeholder’s opinions in the meeting will be analyzed for additional information in the Fishery Action Plan (FAP).
2) Consult the Department of Fisheries to come up with a solution on Fishery Action Plan (FAP).
3) Submit the Fishery Action Plan (FAP) to MarinTrust as information for experts to review the progress of the project.
4) Conduct research projects with ARDA during the second year.
