Marine Resources and Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zones of Thailand

Abstract

Geographically and migratorily, there are four marine fishery resource groups in Thai waters: i) Local fish stocks, ii) Shared transboundary fish stocks, iii) Shared transboundary migratory fish stocks, these 3 fishery resource groups are found as common resources in the Gulf of Thailand where it borders the South China Seas and iv) Highly migratory fish stocks which is the one of the four groups that appear off the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand bordering the high seas of the Indian Ocean. Recommendations for management and conservation of those fish stocks are reported as follows: 1) Development of a legal framework for better promulgation and enforcement of fishery conservation measures; 2) Harmonising study of migratory paths and patterns of highly migratory species by tagging, fish population dynamics, development of fishery statistical systems and exchange of information and experience; 3) Adjust and modify fishing patterns in a way to ensure sustainability and 4) Rehabilitation of the desirable fishery resources and specialised ecosystems and introduction of new hi-tech and other methodologies such as early warning systems on oil spill contingencies and red tide phenomena, including electronic information exchange and continuous automatic monitoring of pollution levels in the EEZs and the high seas