SEAFDEC Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
On 23 December 2025, the SEAFDEC Secretariat and the Training Department (TD), led by Secretary-General Ms. Sampan Panjarat and Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Koichi Tahara, paid a courtesy visit to the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries (DOF) of Thailand and SEAFDEC Council Director for Thailand, Ms. Thitiporn Laoprasert. The SEAFDEC delegation was also welcomed by Deputy Director-General Mr. Prathet Sorrak and other officials of the DOF Thailand.
Following congratulations extended to Ms. Thitiporn on her recent appointment as Director-General of the DOF Thailand, a representative of the Training Department presented an overview of projects undertaken by TD in collaboration with the DOF Thailand in recent years. These activities covered a wide range of areas, including the development of responsible fishing technologies and practices, efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, small-scale fisheries management, including the promotion of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) and gender equity, as well as fisheries resources surveys, among others. In addition to research and development activities, several capacity-building initiatives have also been implemented, particularly for DOF Thailand staff, in recognition of Thailand’s role as the host country of the SEAFDEC Training Department.
While expressing her appreciation for the support extended by the DOF Thailand to SEAFDEC activities—particularly the recently concluded common position on proposals for the listing of commercially-exploited aquatic species in the CITES Appendices, as discussed during the 20th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP20), held in November–December 2025—it was envisaged that future cooperation and collaboration would be further strengthened through discussions among technical staff in the near future.
