The fish is expensive
This famous statement by Kniertje in “Op Hoop van Zegen” also applies to fishing in Thailand. There are similarities with the situation at the time (1900) in the Netherlands, but before Thailand you have to give the expression a different interpretation. Read an editorial from the Bangkok Post below:
"What do you do when large trawlers violate all kinds of laws, cause serious damage to the seabed with their destructive fishing gear and destroy all life from our coastal waters?
What do you do when the trawlers with fake licenses are fishing illegally in the waters of other countries?
What do you do when the owners of those trawlers collude with people smugglers to get workers on board, who are then treated as slaves?
Arrest the owners, fine them or send them to prison?
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
No, the Ministry of Fisheries has no plans to penalize these illegal and destructive fishing methods used by the large trawlers. Instead, they want to amnesty the trawlers for any past crimes.
Trawler fishing within 3000 meters of the coast is prohibited by law, as the coastal waters are an important spawning and breeding ground for marine life. But this law is powerless.
Trawlers routinely fish inshore waters and complaints from fishermen in coastal communities who have lost their livelihoods as a result of these destructive fishing methods are simply ignored. This problem has been going on for several decades and has resulted in many violent conflicts. As inland seas become depleted, the trawlers move to international waters, often with counterfeit shipping and fishing licenses.
Why such blatant negligence? Ask any Ministry official and the answer will be that there is not enough budget to control the seas. Ask again and he will tell you that his hands are tied because the 128 billion baht fishing industry is backed by powerful politicians. However, he will not tell you that a lot of money is paid under the table.
The trawlers' blissful existence was shaken last year when the European Union and the United States jointly announced a ban on the import of seafood from illegal fishing in order to protect marine biodiversity and sustainable fishing. Illegal and unregulated fishing is a serious threat to the world's oceans, they said. This threatened boycott would be a blow to the Thai seafood industry, as the EU and the US are the two main importers of seafood from Thailand.
Like a crying baby, the trawler industry asked for help from the Ministry and got what it wanted. All trawlers with false papers were now given new legal papers without any criminal prosecution.
That's not all.
Our deep sea fisheries are notorious for using human trafficking victims on their vessels and treating them as slaves on board. The Thai fishing fleet needs 100.000 workers per year. Due to a severe labor shortage in Thailand, desperate ship owners are relying on illegal human trafficking networks to get crews with no questions asked.
Stories abound about young men from neighboring countries or from Thailand themselves, who are drugged, kidnapped or lured by a debt of money, before being sold to fishing boats. Those who have escaped tell horror stories of forced labour, abuse, slavery at sea, often resulting in death. That reputation makes many countries think twice before importing fish from Thailand.
Now, to avoid a consumer boycott, the National Fisheries Association wants to create an independent, self-regulatory body to recruit fisheries personnel and ensure that migrant workers have legal status and fair treatment. to get. The proposal, supported by the Ministry of Fisheries, will soon be submitted to the cabinet for approval.
But wait a minute. Shouldn't we find that suspicious?
It has already been shown that the Ministry of Fisheries has no backbone to deal with the widespread misconduct in the industry. Now you are handing all the powers to the industry itself, are you fighting the problems or are you just exacerbating them? The fishing industry will also issue special identification cards to their employees to prevent them from changing employers. Doesn't this plan violate workers' rights?
The Thai fisheries authorities, by "laundering" illegal trawlers and the planned body, are giving total control over the sector and the workers to the industry, showing where their interests lie.
That is why there is no hope of any improvement in human trafficking and working conditions in the fishing industry in the short term.”
Sanitsuda Ekachai, Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post.
Dear Gringo
It is not Hope for Blessing but: For Hope of Blessing.
I hope for a correction for the correct name.
Thanks Jack, that was very stupid of me indeed, my apologies.
I hereby ask the editors to make the correction.
Hereby.
Another powerful article from Sanitsuda Ekachai, who I believe epitomizes the Conscience of Thailand. Nice translation Bert.
It's a shame that so much is being destroyed, both in terms of people and nature. Surely it is also in their own interest that nature (and fish stocks) are not killed? Then there will soon be no more fishing or at the very least you will leave future generations behind with a disrupted nature.
It's that simple. Walk to a local fish market and see what they sell. There are plenty of undersized fish for sale that would fetch a lot of money if they were adults.
20-25 years ago you could eat delicious fresh fish on the Thai islands. The sea cucumbers were then left alone. Nowadays there is sea cucumber on the menu and you can no longer order (large) fish.
25 years ago shrimp cost next to nothing in Thailand. Since those animals are bought by Europeans, among others, the price is almost equal to that in Holland. In addition, there is a big difference between shrimps from the sea and from the farm (which are full of medicines).
Where are organizations such as WHO that make great efforts to protect the whale, for example? Is a whale so much more important than a dying bass?
As long as we do not intervene, the Thai will continue to fish. Now the sea cucumbers are on the menu, but that is pretty much the last animal that can be caught like this…..