Royal Ordinance on Fisheries (No.2) B.E.2017

Section 96 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E. 2558 shall be repealed and replaced by the following: “Section 96: When a fishing vessel has been authorized to berth at a port pursuant to Section 95 and has completed berthing, a request for permission for the importation of aquatic animals or aquatic animal products shall be lodged. After such permission has been granted, aquatic animals or aquatic animal products may then be unloaded from the fishing vessel. Such permission shall be deemed a permission issued under the law on animals’ epidemics and other laws under which permits are required for importation. The competent official shall not permit any importation under paragraph one unless the owner of the vessel or the master of the vessel can prove that:(3) the owner of the vessel or the master of the vessel certifies in writing that the flag state shall certify in due course that the aquatic animals are caught in accordance with the regulations of the international organizations concerned.

No person shall use or have in possession for the purposes of using any of the following fishing gears: (1) a set bag net, a Rua Sai Man bag net or Kan Su Ruan Sai Man bag net, a Li bamboo trap, or any other tool exhibiting a similar character and requiring a similar method; (2) a foldable trap or an elongated collapsible trap (Ai Ngo) with left and right inlets alternating on the sides for the purposes of trapping aquatic animals; (3) a trawl net with the size of the meshes round the bottom part as prescribed by Notification of the Director-General; (4) a push net attached to a motor vessel with the exception of a push net for the catching of krill.

The following acts shall be regarded as fishing operations constituting severe infringements pursuant to section 113: (1) use of a stateless vessel to engage in a fishing operation pursuant to section 10; (2) fishing without a fishing license or a license for the use of a fishing gear pursuant to section 31, section 32, section 35, section 36 or section 48; (3) failure to comply with section 81; (4) preparing a fishing logbook or reporting a fishing operation based on a false document or destroying a document or evidence related to the commission of an offense;

Section 112 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E. 2558 shall be repealed and replaced by the following: “Section 112. In the event that an owner of a fishing vessel port, fish market operator or owner of a vessel registered as a transhipment vessel who violates or fails to comply with this Royal Ordinance, Ministerial Regulation, Notification or Regulation issued under this Royal Ordinance, the Director-General shall have the power to order the revocation of registration.”

The text in (2) of section 114 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E. 2558 shall be repealed and replaced by the following: “(2) undertaking a fishing operation without a fishing license or without a license to use a fishing gear under section 31, section 32, section 36 or section 48.” Section 25/1/1. The text in (6) of section 114 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E. 2558 shall be repealed and replaced by the following: “(6) modification of a fishing gear under section 42, undertaking a fishing operation which is inconsistent with the conditions set out in a license under section 43, or use of a prohibited fishing gear pursuant to section 67, section 68, section 69 or section 71(1).

Section 88 and section 89 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E. 2558 shall be repealed and replaced by the following: “Section 88. The owner of a transhipment vessel having the size specified by notification of the Minister shall undertake the following:Section 88 (5) when undertaking a transhipment of aquatic animals outside Thai waters, an observer shall be present on the transhipment vessel in accordance with the rules of the coastal state or international organization having a jurisdiction over the area which such transhipment vessel enters to fish or other rules prescribed by the Director-General

Section 88 and section 89 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E. 2558 shall be repealed and replaced by the following: “Section 88. The owner of a transhipment vessel having the size specified by notification of the Minister shall undertake the following: (1) install a vessel monitoring system and maintain the operability of such system at all times in accordance with rules and procedures prescribed by notification of the Director-General; Section 20/1. The following text shall be added as section 89/1 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E. 2558: “Section 89/1. In the interest of enhancing the efficiency of monitoring, control and surveillance of unlawful fishing, the Minister shall have the power to issue a Ministerial Regulation to prescribe rules, procedures and conditions to be complied by owners of vessels used for supporting fishing vessels or transhipment vessels. For the purposes of controlling the quality of installation, transmission and storage of data and securing a vessel monitoring system, the Director-General shall have the power to issue a Notification to prescribe rules, procedures and conditions to be complied by a telecommunications service provider providing the vessel monitoring system service