Thai Tonggol Fishery Improvement Project Archive Date: January 2016

Against a background of reducing fishing opportunities and reform of the Thai fisheries management legislation, the Thai Tonggol FIP is temporarily suspended while a potential industry coalition considers assuming ownership of the project. Species: tonggol tuna (Thunnus tonggol)

FIP Scope/Scale: This FIP focuses on the Thai tonggol/longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) caught by tuna purse seiners operating from the east and west coasts of Thailand in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. It is part of a wider project that is seeking better management of this species in Asia and also covers labor issues in the fishing industry, with a focus on Thailand but with a broader interest.

Location:

FIP Participants: • Orkla Foods Sweden – project sponsor • Thai Union Manufacturing Co. • Valcorp Fine Foods – project sponsor • Sea Value • Tropical Canning • Thai Tuna Industry Association

Other Partners/Stakeholders: Thailand Department of Fisheries South East Asia Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management

Sustainability Information: Limited information is available on the status of tonggol stocks or on the number of stocks in either the Indian Ocean or the Western Pacific Ocean. The Neritic Tuna Working Group of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission has produced a preliminary assessment of the situation in the Indian Ocean. This assessment assumes one stock. A preliminary DNA analysis of fish from some parts of the South China Sea (an activity of the FIP) suggests some weak separation of populations of fish between the north and south, and further work is underway. In June 2014, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), with support from the SEAFDEC-Sweden Project, has designed (and its member countries have endorsed) a Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) for neritic tuna (including tonggol) for the SE Asian countries, including the development of an ongoing stock assessment. It is not expected to be concluded before 2019.

The main fishing method used by the Thai fleet targeting tonggol is the purse seine. Available data show that little bycatch is taken. Other fisheries, not targeting tonggol but operating in Thai waters, report catches of juvenile tonggol. Outside Thai waters, in Indonesia, gillnets are used, but their bycatch profile is unknown.

Date Publicly Announced: March 2011

FIP Stage: 4, FIP is delivering improvement in policies or practices

• The Thai Department of Fisheries (DoF) is completing a management plan for the Thai tonggol fishery, which will be public before May 2015. • The Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA) is implementing (during 2015) a VMS system on all the Thai vessels targeting tonggol tuna. • SEAFDEC has designed a RPOA for the improvement of the neritic tuna fisheries in the SE Asia region (the plan has been endorsed by all SEAFDEC member states).

Current Improvement Recommendations:

In 2012, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) conducted a stock reduction analysis on longtail tuna and the biomass appears healthy. This preliminary assessment included catch and effort data and indicates that fishing mortality rates have exceeded the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in recent years. The biomass of longtail appears to be above MSY levels. The current status of longtail is that they are not overfished but are subject to overfishing (IOTC 2013). Overall effort in the Indian Ocean is unknown, but a catch per unit effort series for Thailand’s small purse seine and gillnet fisheries is available. Although information on catches is available, it is generally thought to be underestimated; therefore, a precautionary approach is recommended.

Thailand does have some management measures in place that pertain to longtail fisheries. However, there are severe issues with the current catch estimates used in the stock assessment. Fishing mortality levels seem currently to be too high. Information on bycatch is lacking in this fishery (even if it seems to be low in the purse seine fishery and is unknown at the regional level) and no bycatch mitigation measures are in place. Therefore, improvement recommendations include:

Recommendations to Catchers and Regulators

1. Ensure Thailand complies with all Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) conservation and management measures (CMMs), including measures aimed at both target and incidental market and non-market species, and all other obligations. Member countries must make information on monitoring and compliance with all IOTC obligations publicly available, including measures being taken to address non-compliance issues identified by the Compliance Committee.

2. Encourage continued work with the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in the development and implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on Sustainable Utilization of Neritic Tunas (RPOA-Neritic Tuna). Promote the adoption of a management plan aimed specifically at neritic tuna species in Thailand. In the interim, current management measures and precautionary ones should be strengthened.

3. Support the current SIDA/Orkla longtail tuna fishery improvement project in Thailand and similar recommendations (see table below).

Recommendations to Retailers and Supply Chain

1. Ask the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and the relevant member countries to adopt precautionary and ecosystem-based management measures, including formal reference points, harvest control rules, and increased observer coverage for the tonggol fisheries in their jurisdictional waters.

2. Require that your suppliers source only from fisheries and vessels that comply with all IOTC conservation and management measures (CMMs), and request that IOTC make information on compliance by members and cooperating non-members publicly available. An example of how this might be achieved is the adoption of a control document that ensures recording and reporting interactions, and prohibition on retaining thresher and oceanic whitetip sharks.

3. Source from vessels registered on the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Proactive Vessel Register (PVR) and in full compliance with all measures relevant to their gear type as demonstrated by annual independent audit reports that are made publicly available.

Background: As an inshore tuna, tonggol is a source of protein for many coastal communities in the Middle East and Asia. Annual reported catches have grown over the past 30 years from less than 20,000 tonnes to more than 250,000 tonnes. However, including unreported nearshore tonggol catches from small-scale fishers would likely raise the total catch amounts significantly.

The global distribution of tonggol is as follows:

Source: www.fishbase.us

The status of tonggol stocks is unknown and while the species has many attributes that make it robust to fishing pressure, there is little doubt that catches cannot continue to grow indefinitely. Improving an understanding of the status of tonggol is timely, as there is growing interest in this species in some export markets.

Fishing is an important source of income and food for many coastal peoples in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, many immigrants, mainly from Myanmar and Cambodia, rely on the Thai fishing and tuna canning industries as important sources of income for themselves as well as for their families living in their home countries.

Reported landings grew from less than 20,000 tonnes per year prior to the 1980s to about 130,000 tonnes in the late 1990s and up to 159,000 tonnes in 2012. Reported catches from the Gulf of Thailand are much larger than those from the Andaman Sea.

1. Laem Ngop, Trat Province 12. Muang, Ranong Province 2. Thamai, Chanthaburi Province 13. Kuraburi, Phang-nga Province 3. Muang, Rayong Province 14. Takuapa, Phang-nga Province 4. Sattahip, Chonburi Province 15. Taimuang, Phang-nga Province 5. Sriracha, Chonburi P 16. Muang, Phuket Province 6. Pak Nam, Samutprakan P 17. Muang, Krabi Province 7. Muang, Samutsakhon Prov 18. Kantang, Trang Province 8. Cha-Um, Phetchaburi Provi 19. Palian, Trang Province 9. Pranburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province 20. La-nga, Satun Province 10. Muang, Songkhla Province 21. Muang, Satun Province 11. Muang, Pattani Province

The beginning of the FIP The FIP arose out of discussions with Sweden-based seafood business Abba Seafood (currently Orkla), which has been buying tonggol from Thailand for more than 30 years. Abba expressed an interest in creating a project aimed at better understanding the tonggol resources upon which their business depends and, with the support of local stakeholders, encouraging those that have management responsibility to improve those areas requiring management intervention.

A quick review of the issues surrounding tonggol revealed that catches have grown over the past few decades (159,000 tonnes by 2012), stock status information is non-existent, and demand has increased due to some suppliers looking for alternatives to yellowfin tuna.

FIP Goal and Objectives: The FIP goal is to ensure the long-term sustainability of tonggol supplies to southern Thailand, as the fundamental basis for preventing poverty and providing the basis for future investments in wealth-generating activities.

Objective: • To ensure that tonggol resources are understood and management is robust. • To identify and progress options for improving the livelihoods of those that fish for tonggol in the project area.

Progress Update:

2008 – 2009 Background discussions began in 2008 and resulted in a workshop held in Bangkok in January 2009 that involved Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), SEAFDEC, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the Department of Fisheries, and Abba Seafood. Subsequently discussions were held with Abba’s main suppliers (Thai Union Manufacturing Co., Songkla Canning Co., Siam International Food Co., and Chotiwat Manufacturing Co.).

2010 SFP obtained background information from the Department of Fisheries and its research facilities. In September 2010, further meetings were held with the canneries as well as FAO, SEAFDEC, and the Thailand Department of Fisheries, and the first formal meeting of the FIP was held in March 2011 following the appointment of Dr. Siri Ekmaharaj, retired director general of SEADEC, as the FIP stakeholder committee chairman. The stakeholder committee has grown in number. The canneries involved now (as of June 2012) represent 70% of total tuna canning capacity in Thailand (and all large tonggol canning companies).

2011 April – June In May of 2011, an audit of the fishery, conducted in accordance with the methodology set out by the Marine Stewardship Council (but not formally a pre-assessment), was finalized. In June 2011, Abba and SFP finalized a memorandum of understanding (June 2011).

July – September In September 2011, Abba Seafood was invited to make a presentation about the project at a special workshop of the South East Asia Fisheries Development Center on tuna data collection (http://map.seafdec.org/workshop/ws-07-09-09-2011.html).

October – December In October, the tonggol project was profiled at a workshop of the Asia Pacific Fisheries Commission in Yangon, Myanmar (http://map.seafdec.org/workshop/ws-07-09-09- 2011.html).

The stakeholder committee met in October 2011 to consider the fishery assessment and agreed to make it publicly available. In May 2012, the committee received further comments from the Thailand Department of Fisheries on the Tonggol Assessment Report, including a copy of the research program that commenced this year. These comments have been addressed.

A draft fishery improvement plan was discussed with the stakeholder group in early December 2011 and it was agreed to convert this into a draft fishery management plan to discuss with the Department of Fisheries (DoF).

2012 April – June The stakeholder committee meeting held in Hat Yai on 12 June 2012 discussed this plan in detail and the finalized document was provided to DoF in late August 2012. The Thai Fisheries Department meets with stakeholders to progress the plan (last meeting 16 January 2013).

A short study to evaluate available information on any interactions between the purse seine fishery for tonggol and any small-scale fisheries that take tonggol has been completed.

Negotiations are underway with researchers in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines to undertake DNA profiles for tonggol in relevant national waters in the South China Sea.

July – September A presentation about the tonggol FIP was made by Abba Seafood at the Seafood Summit held in Hong Kong in early September 2012.

October – December SFP has submitted a funding application to cover FY 2013–FY 2015/6.

2013 January – March Thailand Department of Fisheries has met with some stakeholder groups to brief them on progress on the management plan. DNA work was underway by researchers from the government of Indonesia. Samples obtained from Vietnam waters for DNA analysis and have been processed for DNA analysis.

April – October DNA samples from Indonesia have been analyzed and sent to a DNA expert for interpretation along with the data from Vietnam. Report is now available.

On 8–10 October, a “Consultation Meeting on Neritic Tuna Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asian Waters” convened by SEAFDEC and SIDA reviewed current information about tonggol (as well as other neritic tunas) and agreed to prepare a Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) for neritic tunas—a significant step forward for addressing the need to manage tonggol across country borders.

SFP appointed a FIP coordinator to progress the tonggol FIP (and other SFP work in Thailand), incorporating the FIP into a wider tonggol project, which not only covers Thai waters, but also recognizes the regional nature of this species and will engage in the development of the Regional Plan of Action for Neritic Tunas. The tonggol project also covers labor issues with a short-term focus on Thailand and an aim of engaging in similar issues more widely in the region.

2014 January – March Starting in December 2013, meetings were held with SIDA, SEAFDEC, the Thai Department of Fisheries, and the International Labor Organization to progress implementation of the Results Based Framework (RBF) required by SIDA. A revised workplan based on this RBF has been uploaded to the SFP website. Planning for meetings with fishermen is underway.

A meeting of the stakeholder committee was held at the same time as the TUNA14 conference meeting in Bangkok and meetings of the International Labor Organization to discuss Good Labor Practice (GLP) both in factories and on vessels. Outreach to fishers has begun via the project coordinator.

April – June An Expert Group Meeting on the Regional Plan of Action on Sustainable Utilization of Neritic Tuna in Southeast Asian Waters was held on 18–20 June, in Krabi. The meeting adopted a draft RPOA-Neritic Tuna and Capacity Building Program to Support the Implementation of RPOA-Neritic Tuna. A final draft will be submitted for endorsement through the appropriate ASEAN and SEAFDEC mechanisms.

July – September A telephone conference was held with ILO, ETI, and a buyers group (retailers and importers worldwide) involved in forming a buyers´ voice in the GLP program in Thailand.

The FIP Steering Group met in August 2014 to review the workplan, progress, and budget.

The FIP commissioned a detailed review/supply chain analysis regarding fishing vessel registration and marine catch certification system.

October – December The FIP proposed to the Thai Sustainable Fisheries Roundtable that a tuna sub-group be convened to better track and support fishery management initiatives.

Discussions and a meeting among stakeholders were held with the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management for the FIP to act as a pilot for a traceability project relating to the Swedish seafood market. The pilot will be conducted in the first half of 2015.

The Thai Department of Fisheries published a report and results of recent scientific investigations on their website – The Status of Longtail Tuna (Thunnus tonggol) Resource and Fisheries in Thailand.

The Thai Fishery Producers Association and the Thai National Fisheries Association issued for consultation a Code of Conduct for fishing vessels regarding labor practices.

The FIP Stakeholder Group was scheduled to meet in November 2014, but will instead convene in early 2105.

2015 January – February SEAFDEC is starting the active implementation of the RPOA for neritic tuna and launching actions at the regional level for improving the data collection (effort, bycatch, and catch size compositions), which will permit a further stock assessment.

WWF has finalized its review of their previous fisheries assessment and decided to maintain a “red rating” for the Thai tonggol fishery, which will prevent partner companies, like Orkla, from sourcing from the fisheries. Before, the share of tonggol exports to the Scandinavian countries was over 80% of the total. Currently, less than 10% is going to Europe, with the US and new and increasing markets in the Middle East.

The EU has indicated that it is considering a prohibition of imports of tonggol from Thailand and issued a yellow card for IUU activities, mainly due to concerns about fishing vessel registrations and license issuance (per gear, area, and species), and the lack of traceability systems (VMS). Additionally, exports of Thai processed fish (tuna) to the EU fail to present valid/acceptable catch certificates (as demanded by the current EU Regulation on IUU).

The Thai Department of Fisheries (DoF) is finalizing the tonggol fishery management plan and planning to make it public no later than April/May 2015. DoF is holding meetings with concerned stakeholders during February, prior to the plan’s acceptance and public issuance.

The government of Indonesia has issued a new regulation obliging all the Thai vessels fishing on their waters to fly the Indonesian flag and to register officially in the Indonesian register of fishing vessels. This will reduce the Thai fleet targeting tonggol and will place higher effort in the Indonesian fleet.

The Thai Tuna Industries Association (TTIA) has endorsed a plan for installing VMS systems in all the Thai vessels targeting tonggol. Additionally, the TTIA is working actively with the FIP coordinators to establish new measures reinforcing their commitment improving fishing practices.

January 2016

As reported in the introduction, a background of reducing fishing opportunities and reform of the Thai fisheries management legislation necessitated temporary suspension of the Thai Tonggol FIP while a potential industry coalition considers assuming ownership of the project. Please contact SFP for further information.

Resources:

Documents from Special Meeting on Improvement of Tuna Information Collection in Southeast Asia

APFC: Strengthening Assessments of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Asia- Pacific (PDF)

Tonggol Stakeholder Update 2014 (PDF)

May 2014 Tonggol Stakeholder Meeting, Bangkok (PDF)

Labor Issues in Thai Tonggol 2014 (PDF)

Abba CSR Commitment

Thai Tonggol FIP Detailed Information

Fishery Problem:

Summary of fishery status a. Based on SFP’s fishery assessment Current status In terms of target stock(s), this fishery is data deficient. It may be that agencies or research providers that could enhance understanding of the stocks hold additional data. New information is available for the Indian Ocean fish (see link above). Information presented at the SEAFDEC Consultation on Neritic Tunas on 8–10 October 2014 is now publicly available.

Bycatch from the main gear type used appears, from the limited data available, to be low. There has been extensive ecosystem modeling conducted in the Gulf of Thailand, but tonggol is only one of a wide variety of species covered. Some management restrictions for tonggol are based on seasonal area closures and there is a mesh size limit for the fishery that focuses on tonggol and kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis, also known as mackerel tuna). b. Other ranking systems Current status The Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA Seafood Watch Tuna, Tongol) ranks the Thai purse seine fishery as Avoid (on the basis of concern about bycatch and the claimed ineffectiveness of the management regime). Click this link for report: MBA Seafood Watch Tongol Tuna Report. However, our work shows that bycatch in the directed tonggol fishery is minimal. The retained species component is dominated by kawakawa. There are informal reports that WWF also evaluates a mixture of fisheries that take tonggol, but these are not publicly available and their application and use are unclear.

Details of fishery status

Table 1. Evaluation of the fishery Note: This table presents the fishery as evaluated against the MSC Principles and Criteria in accordance with the requirements for a pre-assessment set out in the Fisheries Certification Methodology and the Fisheries Assessment Methodology. However, in accordance with the wishes of the stakeholder committee, a formal pre-assessment was not carried out.

The MSC standard is based upon three principles: Principle 1 relating to the status of the target stock, Principle 2 relating to the condition of the ecosystem upon which that stock depends, and Principle 3 relating to the management system. The following evaluation table points to issues in this fishery requiring management action.

Key to “likely scoring level” in Table 1

Information suggests fishery is not likely to reach SG60 for <60 this PI and improvement action will be required Information suggests fishery will reach SG60 and 60-79 improvement action will be required Information suggests fishery is likely to exceed SG80 and no ≥80 work is proposed in the action plan Requires no action as limited impact Default 100

Based on the information presented above, the Thai tonggol fishery may fall below the level required by the MSC standard in a number of areas. These provide the basis for a series of management improvement recommendations that will be described in a subsequent document. An overview of the identified issues follows, citing the principles and relevance to specific performance indicators:

Principle 1: A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted; the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. The following observations are made. • 1.1.1: The risk-based framework suggests that the stock is over-exploited at all levels of the fishery by tuna purse seiners and other coastal purse seiners. Other (and historic) information suggests that there are potentially serious issues of recruitment overfishing. Most other Thai purse seine fleets are experiencing declines in CPUE. There was however, no reliable information made available on CPUEs for the neritic tuna purse seine sector. • 1.1.2: Limit reference points (SRP) and target reference points (TRP) have not been set for longtail tuna for the range of the species. There may be some uncertainty in this range, which could include both the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea. This would require either MRFDB or DoF to set national restrictions that take account of stock status across the range of the species, or that a collective LRP/TRP is set by all the countries involved. It is likely that different LRP/TRPs would have to be set for the Andaman Sea and South China Sea respectively. • 1.2.1: Harvest control rules are not applied to the longtail tuna/tonggol. • 1.2.2: No harvest control tools are in place. A system of open access exists despite increasingly shrinking fishing opportunities. It is also unclear whether a minimum mesh size or other supporting technical measures apply to this fishery (TTIA informed that a minimum mesh size = to 3 inches has been regulated by DoF for purse seiners targeting tonggol). • 1.2.3: Information is collected but seemingly neither disseminated into regular publications nor used to provide input to management decisions. It would appear that report outputs rely more on the dedication of individual researchers, as opposed to any directed activity. • 1.2.4: Data collection systems are in place, but while some indicators on stock status may be available, no stock assessment is presently available.

Principle 2: Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function, and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends.

• 2.1.1: Retained species (kawakawa) stock status is uncertain, but likely to be at the level of medium risk, as per the target species, and more information is required to better characterize the risks posed by the fisheries. • 2.1.2: There are no management measures in place (as per the target species). • 2.3.1: There is insufficient information available to allow for any interpretation on interactions with ETPs. Prohibitions are in place against directed fishing for turtles, dolphins, and whale sharks, but the level of incidental encounters in fishing gear is unknown. • 2.5.1: There is no supporting ecosystem research that assesses the impact of the fishery on other species. Based on the facts above, assessment of some aspects of Principle 2 is impossible without data on retained species.

Principle 3: The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national, and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. • 3.1.1: An amended Fisheries Act has yet to be implemented, and no current evidence indicates that the precautionary approach to fisheries management is being applied throughout the range of the stock (including the other countries that target longtail tuna). Also, no measures presently in place seek to support the application of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management. • 3.1.2: Formal consultative processes exist, but are untested since no significant management measures are applied to this fishery. • 3.2.1: There are no fishery-specific management measures. The existing measures are unlikely to control fishing effort in any meaningful way, especially against the background of shrinking fishing opportunities in this fishery. The neritic tuna fishery could provide a good opportunity for developing a rights-based management scheme. • 3.2.2: There is presently no informal or formal management decision-making process that takes account of stock status. • P 3.2.3 Compliance systems need to clearly illustrate that fishing is legitimately taking place inside the Thai EEZ or the JDA or, if outside (e.g., Myanmar waters), is linked to an approved access partnership agreement. • 3.2.4: A clear research plan, harvest control rules, and a management structure need to be developed to allow for monitoring of CPUE, catch by species, and size distribution of species for each gear type. • 3.2.5: Assuming that management plans will be used in the future, a formal management plan peer review structure needs to be implemented.

FIP Workplan A draft workplan has been prepared and will be reviewed during February and March 2015, before it is made public.

Results/ Indicator of Scope/ Specific Date List of Source FIP Stage Success Scale Details Achieve Suppliers d FIP is Sustainability Longt Informatio Septemb Thai Union Longtail launched evaluation is ail n is er 2010 Manufactu tuna - W (Stage 1) publicly tuna available r-ing Pacific available (Thun on nus FishSourc Chotiwat tongg e Manufactu Fisheries ol) Informatio Included ring Longtail improvement taken n is in tuna - recommendati in available fishery Siam Indian ons publicly purse on assessme Internation Ocean available seiner FishSourc nt al Food s in e the Songkla waters Canning of Company Thaila nd Abba FIP is Suppliers are Longt Stakehold First Seafood MOU formed organized ail er group formal available (Stage 2) tuna formed meeting upon (Thun held in request nus March tongg 2011 Minutes ol) 1. The of taken stakeholde stakehol in r June der purse committee 2012 meetings seiner has available s in grown; upon the represent request waters 70% of of total tuna Thaila canning c nd apacity in Thailand (not just tonggol).

Suppliers are Evaluation October Report evaluating this undertake 2011 available fishery n in Stage upon 1 request May Thailand 2012 Departme nt of Fisheries has commente d further on the Assessme nt Repot.

FIP is Workplan Longt No formal Since Thai Union Public encouragin with annual ail workplan, June Manufactu Workpla g improvement tuna however 2011 ring n improveme milestones (Thun FIP nts (Stage publicly nus participant Chotiwat 3) available tongg s have Manufactu Detailed ol) lists of ring Workpla taken activities n in they are purse agreed to Siam seiner work on Internation s in al Food the Fishery waters improvem Songkla of ent plan is Canning Thaila being Company nd drafted Tropical Suppliers are Letter Decemb Canning engaging from Abba er 2011 regulators Seafood to Sea Value the Departme Abba nt of Seafood Fisheries July Felix Abba Letter 2012 from Thai Beauvais Food Processors Valcorp Associatio Fine Foods n to Departme nt of Fisheries seeking a manageme nt plan for the fishery FIP is Fisheries Letter October Copy delivering policies from 2012 available improveme changed Thailand on nt in Departme request policies or nt of practices Fisheries (Stage 4) agreeing to develop a manageme nt plan for the fishery 16 Copy January available Minutes of 2013 on meeting of request planning committee (in Thai with partial English 8-10 translation October ) 2013 Availabl e Outcome here statement from SEAFDE C consultati on meeting agreeing to a Regional Plan of Action for Neritic Tunas

Two members of the April industry 2015 appointed (estimate to the d) governme nt’s tonggol manageme nt committee

The Thai Departme nt of fisheries (DoF) is (2015) completin g a manageme nt plan for the Thai tonggol fishery which will be public before May 2015.

The Thai Tuna Industry (2015) Associatio n (TTIA) is implement ing (during 2015) VMS systems in all Thai vessels targeting tonggol tuna.

SEAFDE C has designed a RPOA for the improvem ent of the neritic tuna fisheries in the SE Asia region (the plan has been endorsed by all SEAFDE C member states).