Paper Title
Developing Policy Instruments to Tackle Abandoned, Lost, or Discarded Fishing Gear Problem in Thailand

Abstract
This research aims to fill the knowledge gaps by contributing to ALDFG’s status and impacts and understanding existing regulations and programs to tackle ALDFG problems in Thailand and in aboard level. Following this, the author explored and identified the root cause of ALDFG problem in Thailand. Proposed appropriate policy instruments that were prioritized and qualitatively evaluated by stakeholders over fishing net’s supply chain were also provided to strengthen ALDFG management in Thailand. The result showed that most comprehensive agreements overcoming ALDFG mainly fell on non-binding bodies and agreements deterring fisheries problems. At the implementation level, developed countries have tackled ALDFG by relying on their national laws and having financial support from their states. In Thailand, ALDFG has not directly addressed in the existing laws and regulations, leading to ambiguity regarding the responsible agencies and a lack of ALDFG data collection. Poor maintenance, severe weather, gear conflict, loss of flag buoy, sunlight and sea salinity, and low-quality net texture caused net damage, putting a higher chance of becoming ALDFG. According to fishing method characteristic, fishermen who use dynamic gears had less chance of gear-losing events than passive gears. The capacity of gear retrieval procedures by commercial fishery was better than artisanal fishery due to expertise. When fishing gear (FG) was no longer in use, it was taken to be sold at second-hand shops or reused as a henhouse. Unfortunately, some of them were burned. Consequently, a voluntary program of ALDFG removal scheme, a government-subsidized program of Port Reception Facilities (PRF) for FG, and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model of FG were the top three prioritized policy instruments. As a result, this study calls for relevant authorities to discuss and share responsibilities for dealing with ALDFG issues, starting with the use of FG through the period of fishing gear being ALDFG. Keywords - ALDFG, Ghost Fishing, Marine Policy, Marine Debris, Plastic Pollution