Propose to raise the level of solving the problem of “Black-chinned Tilapia” to a national agenda.

Samut Sakhon, The Fisheries Association of Thailand and the fisheries associations of 16 provinces where the outbreak of black chin tilapia was found proposed that the government elevate the resolution of the black chin tilapia problem to a national agenda in order for relevant agencies, fisheries associations, and academics to jointly resolve the crisis. They also proposed that the use of high-efficiency fishing equipment be relaxed in catching black chin tilapia. Mr. Mongkol Sukcharoenkhana, President of the Fisheries Association of Thailand, led the fisheries associations of 16 provinces where the outbreak of the black-chinned tilapia or Dab, Colonel Thammanat Prompao, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Mr. Bancha Sukkaew, Director-General of the Department of Fisheries. The Fisheries Association of Thailand stated that the problem of the outbreak of the black-chinned tilapia, an invasive alien aquatic animal, is considered a critical issue. The outbreak has been occurring for 14 years and is a serious threat that destroys young aquatic animals along the coastline, including invading various water sources, and eating all the young aquatic animals. Therefore, the government must elevate it to a national agenda, with the Prime Minister as the chairman, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives as the vice chairman, and the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries as the secretary, in order to integrate relevant agencies across ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the provinces under the Ministry of Interior. Such actions will allow other agencies to support the Department of Fisheries, and there will be a clear action plan and no individual actions in each province. In addition, the Department of Fisheries must issue an announcement to relax the use of high-efficiency fishing equipment by relaxing the law to allow fishermen to use high-efficiency fishing equipment in rivers, canals and coastal areas unti l the number of black-chinned tilapia decreases and then use other tools to clean it up. including requiring each province to create a map of public water sources such as rivers, canals, swamps, marshes, coastal areas, including public aquaculture areas where black-chinned tilapia are prevalent, to be used in planning the systematic management and elimination of black-chinned tilapia. Including the determination of each provincial fisheries office to work with local fisheries associations to coordinate with fishermen to register fishing boats and fishermen who will join the black-chinned tilapia eradication project to control them in the official information system. At the same time, the government is proposed to allocate an urgent budget to support the elimination of black-chinned tilapia for fishermen, such as fuel costs, equipment costs, labor costs, and support the price of black-chinned tilapia at 15 baht within a specific time frame (3-6 months) to expedite the elimination and prevent illegal cultiva tion of black-chinned tilapia, etc. In addition, it is proposed to have a special working group in each province, with the provincial fisheries officer as the chairman, representatives from government agencies, representatives from the provincial fisheries association, representatives from fishermen, and representatives from civil society as committee members, and the provincial fisheries officer as the secretary. They will have the power and duty to operate, supervise, control, and inspect the use of the budget to support fishing boats and fishermen participating in the project, and appoint a special working group as necessary, including collecting various problems found during the operation and finding solutions together, and possibly proposing various problems to the Department of Fisheries for consideration and resolution. Request the task force of each province to coordinate with aquaculture farmers to help inform the task force of the outbreak of black-chinned tilapia in the breeding area to collect d ata and cooperate in eliminating black-chinned tilapia from farmers' breeding areas. Under the task force, a task force should be set up to receive information on the outbreak of black-chinned tilapia, by setting up a LINE group and other communication channels to receive information from the public and civil society representatives in that province about which areas have black-chinned tilapia outbreaks, by coordinating with the task force to carry out the elimination urgently. As for releasing predatory fish, please consider which areas have already been eliminated from the black-chinned tilapia until there are only a few left. Start by releasing a sufficient number of large predatory fish into rivers, canals, swamps, and marshes so that the predatory fish will eat the black-chinned tilapia fry to quickly cut off the life cycle of the black-chinned tilapia. After that, promote, support, and restore aquatic resources in natural water sources to restore the ecosystem, such as releasing local aquatic species t o replace them. Source: Thai News Agency