Not long ago, Thailand was known among fisheries managers and authorities as a place where illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing was rampant and where many vessel captains and owners ignored even basic human rights of their crews. But thanks to international political and market pressure and smart domestic management, the country is on its way to becoming an example of how governments should steward their fisheries.
IUU fishing is a major threat to the long-term health of the ocean. It threatens the sustainability of fish stocks that support food production and local communities, and it can endanger livelihoods and the safety of fishers. In some nations, IUU fishing accounts for more than 30% of the fish taken from their waters—which experts say was the case in Thailand’s fisheries at the peak of the country’s mismanagement.
A number of factors helped spur Thailand to clean up its act, the most impactful of which was the European Union’s actions under its IUU fishing regulation. That law requires countries that export fish to the EU to meet international standards for oversight and governance. Countries that have inadequate measures in place to prevent and deter IUU fishing receive an official warning—a yellow card—and those that don’t sufficiently address the identified shortcomings receive red cards, which ban them from exporting seafood products to the EU.