"The European Commission has issued a yellow card against Thailand as a potential non-cooperating third country in the fight against IUU fishing. This follows discussions held since 2011. It is taking action against Thailand for the alleged breaches of international commitments against IUU fishing. The EU considers that Thailand has significant shortcomings in its fisheries monitoring, control and sanctioning systems and concludes that it is not doing enough to address them. The Commission has identified that at least 11 Thai vessels have been involved in IUU activities during the period 2010 to 2014; the fact that many Thai vessels are not carrying VMS onboard in breach of IOTC rules, lack of traceability for imported fishery products, and inconsistencies in the catch certificates issued by the Thai authorities (for example with final products found to be up to twice the amount of raw material) and product consigned from vessels not registered with RFMOs. Thailand had also failed to cooperate effectively with other states; the Department of Fisheries was unaware that 5 Thai vessels were arrested for fishing illegally in the PNG EEZ in October 2014."

Source:  MEGAPESCA LDA (Portugal)

TAGS: EU, IUU fishing, Thailand, yellow card, sustainable fisheries