Bangkok - Thailand on Tuesday revoked the commercial fishing licenses of 8,024 fishing trawlers for failing to join a new registration scheme, the navy said.

The government in July ordered all fishing vessels to register as part of a response to an EU warning over illegal fishing.

The European Union in January threatened an import ban on Thai fisheries products unless the country did more to crack down on illegal fishing practices including ocean bottom trawling and the use of push nets.

Those practices were already banned under Thai fishing regulations, but implementation was lax, and to be improved by the new registration scheme.

The ship owners affected by Tuesday's move have "no channel to recover their licences and their vessels will remain in harbour" for the time being, Navy spokesperson Benjamaporn Wongnakornsawangthat said.

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