PATTANI, 20 May 2015 – The Sea Fishery Worker Management Center in Pattani Province called a meeting of all provincial authorities today at the Provincial Labour Protection and Welfare Office to mobilize their force to eliminate IUU fishing following the government’s order.
The Pattani’s center comprises police, military, representatives from the Second Naval Area Command, the Special Investigation Operation Center for Southern Border Provinces, as well as units affiliated to the Labour Ministry.
Pattani is one of the 22 coastal provinces of Thailand claimed to be sites of IUU fishing. Pattani deputy governor Luechai Charoensap who presided over today’s meeting revealed that the meeting clarified scope of responsibility for each unit and approaches for the joint inspection of working conditions as well as human trafficking in the entire fishery sector.
“Responsibilities of the Sea Fishery Worker Management Center cover the registration of fishing vessels and inspection of those vessels while operating off the coast. Information sharing system among state agencies and the establishment of Port in – Port out Checkpoint are also parts of its mission,” said Mr.Luechai.
He expected that Pattani Province would be able to deal with the problem of illegal workers in the fishery sector and control other problems such as child labour and forced labour. He was confident the province would be able to shut down human trafficking in parallel with improvement of working conditions in order to ensure safety for all workers in the sector.
