A class action lawsuit was filed today with the Bangkok South Civil Court, by a group of fishermen and fish farmers in Samut Sakhon province, against Charoen Pokphand Foods Company (CPF). The plaintiffs are demanding 2.5 billion baht in compensation for the damage caused since 2017 to their fish farms and natural watercourses in the country by Blackchin tilapia, a non-indigenous species of fish.
A separate lawsuit has also been filed with the Central Administrative Court. Representatives of the Law Council of Thailand filed the suit on behalf of 54 Samut Sakhon fishermen and fish farmers, against 18 state agencies and officials, for alleged negligence in the performance of their duties, allowing the alien fish species to proliferate and cause extensive damage to the environment and the native fish stocks.
According to the Law Council of Thailand, two groups of people have been affected by the spread of the fish.
The first are fish farmers, numbering about 1,000, who operate over 4,300 hectares of fish farms in Amphawa and Mueang districts of Samut Sakhon. They claim that they have lost revenue since 2017, estimated at about 1.98 billion baht, due to the invasion of the Blackchin tilapia.
The second are local fishermen who make a living on the natural watercourses of Samut Sakhon.
The 18 state agencies and officials being sued in the Central Administrative Court include the Fisheries Department and its director-general, the National Fisheries Policy Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and its minister, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and its director-general, the Department of Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the Interior and Finance ministries and the National Environment Board.
CPF imported 2,000 Blackchin tilapia from Ghana on December 22, 2010, for research in partnership with three universities. Most of the fish died, either in transit or within 16 days of arrival. 600 survived initially but, by January 2011, only 50 remained alive and CPF decided to terminate the project, using chlorine to destroy the remaining fish. The fish remains were buried.
CPF claims that it followed the Fisheries Department’s guidelines for the destruction and submission of samples, informing the department of the fish deaths.
In 2017, the Fisheries Department inspected CPF’s Yisan fish farm in Amphawa, but found no Blackchin tilapia in the ponds. The fish was, however, found in natural watercourses connected to the farm. The species has now spread to 13 provinces.
