Aligning with the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines: Policy Reform for Fisheries Sustainability in Thailand

Abstract

Global attention on issues affecting fisheries sustainability, particularly those related to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, has recently heightened. As one of the world’s top seafood producers, Thailand is under immense pressure to illustrate commitment to address these issues. A new Royal Ordinance on Fisheries (2015) emerged as a result, replacing the Fisheries Act (2015). The Royal Ordinance includes several policies and regulations that aim to put a new order in the Thai fisheries, for instance, by addressing illegal fishing and promoting environmental protection and sustainable resource use. One of the main objectives of the new decree is to protect and assist or support small-scale and community-based fisheries, making it align well with the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines). The Royal Ordinance could provide Thailand with a critical and timely opportunity to transform fisheries from an unsustainable and over-capacity situation to a well-balanced system. Proper operationalization of the new decree could also mean fair and equitable benefits to small-scale and large-scale fishing sectors, thus rectifying the existing economic and political imbalance. Similar to the prerequisites for the implementation of the SSF Guidelines, many conditions have to be met for this to happen, starting from having a common understanding about what the law says and what it implies in practice. This chapter presents the case of Trat province, which is one of the first provinces in the country to take the step towards operationalizing the new fisheries law.