Report of the 7th meeting of the Gulf of Thailand sub-region in Chonburi, Thailand, 1-2 November 2018 was prepared by the Secretariat of Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC). The document is distributed to participants of the Assembly, SEAFDEC member states, SEAFDEC departments and relevant institutions. Report of the 7th Meeting of the Gulf of Thailand Sub-Region in Chonburi, Thailand, 1-2 November 2018, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre.
REPORT OF THE 7TH MEETING OF THE GULF OF THAILAND SUB-REGION November 1-2, 2018, Chonburi, Thailand.
Introduction
Opening of the Meeting
Introduction, Objectives of the Meeting and Adoption of Meeting Agenda
Review the progress of the 6th Gulf of Thailand Subregional Meeting and the bilateral dialogues.
Review Progress of the 6 th Gulf of Thailand Sub-Region Meeting and
Sutee Rajruchithong, technical expert from TD, emphasized the importance of the bilateral dialogues to discuss the stock assessment of transboundary species and problem management in the Gulf of Thailand to fill the information gaps. Progress on the implementation of transboundary stocks and habitats and subregional cooperation.
Progress on the Implementation of Transboundary Stocks and Habitats as well as
Indo-Pacific Mackerel and Important Economic Species as well as Neritic Tuna
- Indo-Pacific mackerel and Neritic Tuna
- Tonggol Tuna Fishery Improvement Project (FIP)
Samsudin, fisheries officer from DoF Malaysia, recommended considering discussion on the next steps after the DNA investigation. Pakawan shared with the meeting that Sweden used to be a main market for canned Tonggol tuna. She informed the meeting that the FIP is a process to assess the fishery management of Tonggol tuna and its exploitation of the stock is sustainable based on scientific data.
Pakawan informed the meeting about the upcoming event, WWF-Thailand in partnership with DOF Thailand, Thai Tuna Association and SEAFDEC will co-organize an introductory meeting on FIP Thailand on November 13, 2018. Nguyen Thanh Binh, , on the future plan to support the FIP in Cambodia and Vietnam on Neritic Tuna and Blue Swimming Crab, Ms. Pakawan informed that WWF-Vietnam has been working on the Blue Swimming Crab FIP in Vietnam and is ready to support both countries.
SEAFDEC/UN Environment /GEF/ Fisheries Refugia Project
The Fisheries refugia project will work in collaboration with SEAFDEC-Sweden project to support the identification of their life cycle and spawning grounds in transboundary areas, after consultation with stakeholders to determine appropriate fisheries management measures specific to that area. Nguyen Thanh Binh shared that Vietnam has not yet defined priority species for fishery sanctuaries, but is interested in anchovy, blue swimming crab, Indo-Pacific mackerel and other species. Samsudin asked for the clarification on the differences between the Fisheries refugia project and SEAFDEC-Sweden project and asked if Malaysia could still include Indo-Pacific mackerel in the refugia's scope of work.
Weerasak clarified that the fisheries refugia project is being implemented by the Ministry of Fisheries of Malaysia and the target species have already been selected by the country, namely tiger prawn and spiny lobster, and scientific research is being done on identifying the life cycle of fish . The Chairman proposed the fisheries refugia project to check the available budget, consult with the project steering committee in early December 2018 and consult the Malaysian working group on the drawdown. Pattaratjit Kaewnuratchadasorn, project manager of SEAFDEC-Sweden added that the fisheries refugia project and SEAFDEC-Sweden had been working on the same species.
Sharing Experience and Lessons Learnt on Habitat Management and Communities’
He also briefed on the institutional mechanism of the project involving national and regional levels and governed by the Project Steering Committee. Kamonpan, requested further clarification on the difference between “Marine Protected Area (MPA)” and “Refugia”, whether selected areas such as Trat and Suratthani overlap with existing marine protected areas. The final target, covering a total of 229,500 hectares of fishing refugia in six (6) participating countries, requires a 20% reduction in fishing pressure within the refugia sites during a critical period.
Sutee Rajruchithong asked for clarification on good practices on fishing sanctuaries of king mackerel in Thailand whether the project has data from Cambodia and Vietnam for stock assessment and resource situation in the Gulf of Thailand for better sub-regional management. In addition, he informed that MFF in partnership with SEAFDEC-Sweden Project and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) jointly conducted a two-year regional gender study in South and Southeast Asia, the synthesis report was completed. He also added that MFF/IUCN, SEAFDEC-Sweden and SEI will co-chair a regional dialogue on the revision of regional gender study to be held during 15-16 November 2018.
Promotion of Effective Fishing Capacity Management, and Reduction of Illegal and
Country Updates on Management of Fishing Capacity and Combating IUU Fishing
Doungporn requested further clarification on the revised policy to "encourage new-build fishing vessel under modernization transformation" under the management of the fishing capacity scheme. Kamonpan asked if Malaysia plans to share fishing vessel information, if Malaysia shared 100 GT to FAO Global Record. Binh, requested further clarification on the MD's function on vessel registration regulations for motor vessel.
Kamonpan clarified that the MD is responsible for vessel registration and has amended the existing regulation on fisheries registration. Bøje Roitana sought further clarification on the implementation of the NPOA-IUU and the creation of the steering group. No new fishing vessels built without removing fishing vessels in a similar number to control and maintain current fishing capacity.
Strengthening Monitoring (M), Control (C), and Surveillance (S) in
- Country Updates on National MCS
- The Development of MCS in the Gulf of Thailand Sub-region
Binh informed that in the NPOA Fishing Capacity issued five years ago, Vietnam issued a Directorate circular prohibiting new construction of small vessels for operations in the Vietnamese coastal areas. In his presentation, he informed that Vietnam has a large number of small-scale fishing vessels (about 109,000 units). In response, the representative of Vietnam replied that Vietnam has more than 10,000 vessels with capacity below 90 hp.
However, for larger fishing vessels, Vietnam has a current system that uses high frequency signal for monitoring. Cassandra, representative of FAO requested to know more if Vietnam applied similar approach to the Malaysian community-based management system for monitoring purposes. The representative of Vietnam informed the Assembly that Vietnam is working on the nomination of five (5) technical team members.
Activities Related to the Gulf of Thailand Sub-region
Progress on the Cruise Survey Conducted in the Gulf of Thailand by
Pattaratjit emphasized that the sub-regional MCS coordination was essential because some aspects of fisheries are regional, such as transboundary species, shared and migratory fish stocks, trade in catches and movement of fishing vessels, and it is important to link management measures in coordination with neighboring countries. Therefore, the SEAFDEC-Sweden project made an effort together with the member countries to look at a regional perspective through subregional coordination. She requested the update of the nomination of the National Technical Group (five (5) representatives from each country) and confirmation from the meeting on the implementation of the upcoming consultation on MCS for the Gulf of Thailand sub-region.
In response, the representative of Malaysia informed the Assembly that Malaysia had confirmed and would provide the list of national focal points, but it was still pending high-level approval. Internal procedure requires coordination and opinion of various official authorities to consider the proposal and currently it is pending approval of higher authority for participation in the network. The Chairman emphasized in the meeting that SEAFDEC expects MCS network to have more specialized agencies involved in Monitoring, Control and Supervision to strengthen cooperation and share information between sub-regional countries.
Results of Regional Gender Study Conducted in Cambodia and Thailand
Updates from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Discussion on the Coordination Management Plan for the Gulf of Thailand Sub-region
This is due to its multi-level processing carried out in Thailand and Vietnam before its export to other countries, (iii) the maintenance of green zone for neritic tuna in Vietnam. This will benefit Vietnam's neritic tuna exports to Thailand for further processing and export purposes, and (iv) anchovy management and sustainability development through stock assessment and development of measures. The Chairman suggested Vietnam to have further discussion with other countries about the mentioned cooperation.
Kamonpan, a representative from Thailand, agreed with Vietnam and recommended the following activities to be addressed immediately in 2019, namely: (i) capacity building for high-level NPOA-IUU development, (ii) completion of the DNA study, (iii) stock assessment with SEAFDEC support, especially for Indo-Pacific mackerel between Thailand and Cambodia in 2019, (iv) dissemination of Thailand's successes to other countries. While the representative of Vietnam agreed on the establishment of MCS networks, he also called on Member States to ensure an effective MCS network and avoid overlapping roles with other existing networks/systems to better manage fish stocks and reduce the number of fishing vessels engaged in IUU fishing. in the Gulf of Thailand subregion. While Vietnam is also interested in proposing Refugia sites in Vietnam, the target species would be blue swimming crab and anchovy in Phu Quoc Island, both species also found in Kep Province, Cambodia.
Closing of the Meeting
Ms. Pakawan, representative of WWF-Thailand, shared information at the meeting that funding for FIP operations can be obtained from buyers and industry. During the 8th meeting of the Gulf of Thailand sub-region, member states will have to conclude with the achievements of the project and another discussion on future activities. Legal Officer, Professional Level Legal Affairs Division, Kaset Klang Fisheries Department, Phaholyotin Road Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand Tel.
Fisheries Biologist, Practitioner Level Vessel Monitoring System Group, Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Fleet Management. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Fisheries Resource Control Department no. 10, Nguyen Cong Hoan Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi City, Vietnam. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development no. 10 Nguyen Cong Hoan Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi City, Vietnam.
Review the follow-up to recommendations from the 6th Gulf of Thailand Meeting in 2017 and report on the progress of activities since the previous Gulf of Thailand sub-regional meeting, including bilateral dialogue events and the development and implementation of joint work plans and cooperative agreements. Strengthening sub-regional cooperation for the integration of habitat and fisheries management initiatives and frameworks such as the SEAFDEC/UNEP/GEF Fisheries Refugia project and the MCS Network in the Gulf of Thailand sub-region. Identify the further action plan and solution for the sustainability of the Gulf of Thailand Sub-region Meetings platform.
Raising awareness among participating institutions around the Gulf of Thailand sub-region about benefits of regional/sub-regional cooperation and inter-sectoral cooperation to promote appropriate fisheries and habitat management to achieve sustainable development – including the importance of including a sub-regional coordination mechanism. Improving structure and involvement in the ongoing implementation of activities in the Gulf of Thailand sub-region. The 7th meeting of the Gulf of Thailand sub-region will be organized from 1-2 November 2018 in Chonburi, Thailand.
