The law still cannot prosecute the importers of ‘black chin tilapia’.

Bangkok,, The Director-General of the Fisheries Department stated that the current fisheries law still cannot prosecute or claim damages from importers of "black-chinned tilapia" in cases where it may be the cause of its escape into the ecosystem. However, this has been included in the draft of the new Fisheries Act. He will also closely monitor the research on "jade grouper" by CPF to prevent a repeat of the incident. He is open-minded and thinks the same as society about responsibility. Even though he does not have to be held legally responsible, he can take responsibility with conscience. Mr. Bancha Sukkaew, Director-General of the Department of Fisheries, said that the Department had previously allowed the private sector to import only one 'black-chinned tilapia' in 2010. The company requested permission to import for research and breeding in 2006. Imports must be permitted by officials, after considering the academic opinions of the Department of Fisheries' Institutional Committee on Biodiversity and S afety (IBC). Once permission has been granted, officials at the Department of Fisheries' aquatic animal inspection checkpoints will inspect and control the import of the aquatic animals until they reach the permitted experimental sites. The company imported 2,000 in December 2010 through the aquatic animal inspection station at Suvarnabhumi Airport and then took them to a farm in Samut Songkhram Province. The permit application process was carried out correctly, but the company later breached the conditions regarding the disposal of the carcasses due to the following conditions: Samples must be collected by pickling in a solution and sent to the Freshwater Biodiversity Research Group, Freshwater Fisheries Research and Development Office, Department of Fisheries. When the research is completed, the research results must be reported. If the research does not meet the goals and there is no desire to continue the research, destroy all remains by informing the Department of Fisheries to send officials to inspec t the destruction. According to the information that can be found, the company terminated the research in January 2011, claiming that it had sent the formalin-preserved fish samples in two bottles, 25 fish each, totaling 50 fish, to the Freshwater Biodiversity Research Group. It ordered an investigation of data from the whole fish sample storage room for the diversity of aquatic populations and the DNA bank laboratory, which stores tissue and blood for genetic testing. It confirmed that there was no record of receiving samples for storage and the claimed black chin tilapia sample bottles. The company's breach of the import permit conditions only results in the company not being permitted to import black-chinned tilapia for research purposes. The Fisheries Act of 2015 does not specify any penalties or require liability for any damages that may occur if the aquatic animals that have been requested permission to be imported escape into the ecosystem. From the search for information, no samples of the black-ch inned tilapia that the company requested permission to import were found, so it is still not possible to verify whether the DNA matches the black-chinned tilapia that is currently spreading, as society has demanded. However, the Minister of Agriculture has urgently ordered the Department of Fisheries to appoint a working group to investigate the facts about the spread of the black-chinned tilapia. If the Department of Fisheries finds any additional evidence, it will expedite the investigation process to find the source and find the facts to make known to society. As for the issue that was stated that there was information from the Aquatic Animal and Production Factor Control Division of the Department of Fisheries reporting that black chin tilapia were exported as ornamental fish between 2013-2016 to 15 countries, namely Canada, Zimbabwe, Japan, Australia, Russia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Iran, Poland, and Turkey, totaling 323,820 fish, valued at 1,510 ,050 baht, I did not know this information beforehand and will go and investigate. The reporter also asked about the 'Jade Grouper' research project that Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CPF) requested permission from the Department of Fisheries to import for research and breeding in 2018 to push it to become a new economic fish. The research was conducted at CPF's fish research and breeding center in Tambon Yi San, Amphoe Amphawa, Samut Songkhram Province. The second phase of research will be conducted between 2022-2024, which will end in the next 2-3 months. Has there been any monitoring to ensure that it does not escape into the environment like the black-chinned tilapia? Mr. Bancha said that officers have been sent to provide continuous and close care. Mr. Bancha said that he felt the same as people in society that those who damage the ecosystem and fisheries economy must be held responsible for the damage they caused. Legally, they cannot be forced to be held responsible, but he saw that responsibility has two parts: legal responsibility and conscious responsibility. In 2010, I was the provincial fisheries officer of Chanthaburi. When I became the current Director-General of the Department of Fisheries, what I could do was propose to include criminal prosecution and compensation for those who created an impact on the ecosystem in the new Fisheries Act draft. This is a lesson learned from the 'Black-chinned Tilapia' crisis. I will also try to solve this problem in order to restore the sustainability of aquatic resources and pass it on to future generations. Source: Thai News Agency