Thailand pushes development of ASEAN Common Fisheries Policy

BANGKOK, Mar 28 (TNA) – Thailand held an international conference to forge ahead with the drafting of the ASEAN Common Fisheries Policy in the capital Bangkok on Monday. The conference, chaired by Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, was aimed at collecting opinions and suggestions from relevant agencies both inside and outside the Southeast Asian region to prepare for the development of ASEAN Common Fisheries Policy. Adisorn Promthep, director-general of the Department of Fisheries, said the conference was held in line with the resolution of the 38th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF), which took place in Singapore last year. At the AMAF, the ministers agreed to promote the regional fisheries policy and called on all ASEAN members to work in the same direction in terms of the management of fishery resources, fishing and aquaculture. The ASEAN bloc is considered as a world’s key fishery and aquaculture producer with total production of 41 million tons in 2015, accounting for 21 per cent of the global fish production. Thailand ranked fifth behind Vietnam, which was the third biggest producer in the world. (TNA)