Report | May 27, 2024

Open letter: EU industry and NGOs call for sustained European Commission action to keep Thai fisheries safe, legal and sustainable

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Oceana, Europêche and ANFACOCECOPESCA met with Director-General (DG) Vitcheva on Thursday 4 April 2024 to discuss concerning recent developments in Thailand’s fishing industry and, more broadly, the Union’s policies to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing around the globe.

Over the last decade, hard-won reforms have transformed the Thai fishing sector, with painstaking progressive action to reduce IUU fishing, introduce transparency, and uphold human rights at sea. The European Commission has played a critical role in this transition; following a “yellow card” in 2015, the Thai authorities responded by bringing their fisheries regulations in line with international best practice and the card was lifted in 2019.