The Transition from Unregulated to Regulated Fishing in Thailand

Nipa Kulanujaree, Krishna R Salin, Pavarot Noranarttragoon and Amararatne Yakupitiyage
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Nipa Kulanujaree: Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
Krishna R Salin: Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
Pavarot Noranarttragoon: Fisheries Resource Assessment Group, Marine Fisheries Research and Development Division, Department of Fisheries, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
Amararatne Yakupitiyage: Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 14, 1-26

Abstract: Marine fishery is an economically important sector and the primary source of livelihood for coastal fishers in Thailand, but the open access harvesting system and overfishing have depleted fish stocks. The country should address both the issues to sustain a healthy marine fishery and protect the lucrative export market as well as to maintaining seafood self-sufficiency. This paper explains the on-going processes of implementing the measures of restricting the number and size of fishing vessels and fishing efforts to control fishing capacity. The marine resources in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea are categorized into three separate species groups: (1) demersal, (2) pelagic, and (3) anchovies. The precautionary approach is used as the guiding principle, and maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of the three combined resource categories is used as a reference point in setting the total allowable catch (TAC) limits in this exercise. The number of fishing days per vessel per year is stipulated by issuing licenses based on the TAC size and total allowable effort (TAE). Both the advantages and disadvantages of the current fishing allocation system are discussed.

Keywords: restricted fisheries; fishing license; marine resource management; MSY; fishing effort regulation; total allowable effort; TAE (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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