Seafood prices ready to soar?

PHUKET: Royal Thai Navy Chief Adm Narong Yutthawong, who once served as Supreme Commander of the Thai Armed Forces, has met leading local fishing industry figures as part of his senatorial fact-finding tour into the impact of rising fuel prices on the nation’s fishing industry.

At a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on June 4, Adm Narong said that his tour had taken him to many other key fishing centers, including Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkram, Songkhla, Pattani, Ranong, Krabi and Maha Sarakam.

Committee chairman Adm Narong said, “Our fishing industry is suffering from many problems, such as the price of fuel, depleted fishing grounds and foreign competition. We need to know exactly which problems our fishing industry is facing and we need to collect information to find ways to solve them.”

“We will report our findings to the Senate first and pass on what we have learned to the government,” he added.

Chief of Phuket Provincial Fishery Office, Pairoh Sutthakorn, reported to the committee, “We have the same problem as other provinces: the high price of fuel, depleted fishing areas, foreign labor and low market prices.”

Phuket Fishermen Association Chairman Somyot Wongboonyakul said that he had asked the director-general of the Department of Fishery Office for suggestions on how to cope with the impact of rising fuel prices, and even suggested that Phuket’s fishing fleet convert to bio-diesel.

Sutha Prateep Na Thalang, representing the Ao Chalong Fishermen’s Association, said, “We have problems with the negative impact on the environment, especially polluted water brought on by coastal development, which is being driven by tourism.”