Commercial fishermen from 22 coastal provinces urged the government to keep promise in helping them solve problems, which they believed stemmed from stringent measures taken to counter Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Representatives of the National Fisheries Association of Thailand (NFAT) said that they were affected from issuing law with severe punishment, said Mongkon Sukcharoenkhana, honorary adviser to NFAT.
They are also facing labour shortage as most migrant workers travelled home on the outset of the pandemic and have not returned to work.
The remaining workers, who stay in the country are not adequate, he said. Fishing operators are ready to recruit unemployed Thai workers but recruitment plan, discussed with agencies concerned did not make any progress.
They also ask the authorities to increase fishing days and control imports of aquatic animals that can be captured by local fishing boats in the Thai sea.
The prime minister unofficially listened to their problems and said the information he gained from the NFAT different from reports of related agencies. The new information he learned was useful for tackling the problem at its root, Mongkon said.
He called for urgent action to be taken by the government.
Currently, all fisheries associations in 22 provinces raised placards to sell their boats to the government as they cannot earn a living from fishing anymore. (TNA)
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