Fishing boats lay idle in port at Samut Songkhram (Bangkok Post file photo) Bangkok (VNA) – Fishermen acrossThailand on September 21 demonstrated against the European Union (EU)’sstringent regulations on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing inThailand.
The fishermen in 22 coastal provinces turned outto oppose the EU regulations right on the National Fisheries Day of Thailand.
More than 3,000 protesters in Samut Songkramprovince took to the streets wearing black shirts featuring anti-EU messages.
Chairman of the Thai Fisheries AssociationMongkol Sukcharoenkana said the fishermen want to show the EU that they areunhappy with the EU’s “double standard” on Thai fishing, adding that EUofficials are trying to use IUU fishing regulations as a trade barrier ratherthan to preserve marine resources.
He said IUU regulations had destroyed the Thaifishing industry over the past two years, noting that the fisheries sector hadalready lost 500 billion baht (about 15 billion USD).
The Thai fishing fleet formerly had as many as40,000 boats, but now the number has decreased to 10,600, only 3,500 of which canoperate because of labour shortages.
“If the EU still interferes with Thaibusinesses, we will apply our own measures against the EU, such as boycottinggoods from the EU or protesting their exploration for natural gas in Thaiwaters,” he added.-VNA
VNA
