Destructive Fishing Gears
One aspect of the resource management problem can be clearly seen in the area of fishing activities. Beginning in 1960, marine fishing was heavily promoted in the South China Sea, including Thailand, and development was rapid due to many factors such as the introduction of modern fishing methods and modern fishing gear, use of trawler dragnets by the industrial and commercial fisheries sectors, modification of fishing boats and addition of motors to the boats, together with technical assistance from economically developed countries and international organizations. These factors had the effect of bringing about the present deterioration of marine animal resources.
There are many factors which have contributed to the degradation of fisheries resources in Thai national waters, but the most important factor, and one which is still causing a loss of resources, is the use of destructive fishing gear that appropriates the resources of local communities. Important destructive gear includes pushnets, dragnets and anchovy processing factory ships.
1. Pushnets/rare and endangered species
Pushnets are a type of fishing gear which was developed from traditional small man-powered pushnets. Fishing with traditional pushnets involves scooping or seining. A bag net connected to poles is pushed forward through the water by hand to catch coastal marine animals such as shrimp, crabs and fish. Later, the efficiency of this traditional equipment was increased by using motors rather than manpower. This change allowed for pushnet fishing farther from the shore, and, with the use of larger boats, further increased the effective pushnet fishing area.
In Thailand, a total of 354 pushnet fishing boats were registered in 1970, the first year of registration. By 1989, the number of boats had increased to 1,907. A census of marine fishing in 1995 counted about 4,000 pushnet boats, of which 1,142 were large boats, and noted a trend toward even more such boats. Large boat pushnet poles are about 28 to 44 meters long with net mesh size of between 0.5 and 1.5 centimeters. Small pushnet boats pushnet poles are 6 to 15 meters long, with approximately the same size net mesh as large pushnet boats.
Pushnet boats are still operating in many areas such as Prachuapkhirikhan, Chumpon, Suratthani and Pattani provinces. Pushnet boats harvest both large and small marine animals. Those with economic importance such as shrimp make up about 40 to 45% of the total catch; the balance, some 60% which are classified together as trash fish, include juveniles of economic marine animals such as sardines, spider crabs and drum fish. These juvenile economic fish constitute some 65 to 70% of the trash fish total. The remaining 30 to 35% are true trash fish. It has been estimated that in one year the total pushnet harvest from boats of all sizes is 26,289 tons, of which 15-16% are large shrimp, 8-9% are spider crabs, 7% are fish, 4-5% are squid/cuttlefish, and the balance a mixture of other species. The fishing gear of pushnet boats is quite destructive to resources because of the proportion of the catch (up to 65-70% of the total) that largely consists of juvenile individuals of economic fish is mixed in together with the junk fish. In addition, the number of pushnet boats is increasing each year. There have been warnings from many local communities regarding pushnet fishing boats operating illegally within 3,000 meters of the shore, a designated conservation area.
In summary, it can be said that pushnet fishing boats are an important factor in the deterioration of marine animal resources and the coastal ecology. Pushnets are a type of fishing gear used in what is known as biomass fishing, that is, fishing with the goal of harvesting the entire population of marine animals.
In addition, it has been found that pushnet fishing gear is the main cause of destruction of seagrass in many areas including Trang, Satun, Krabi, Pangnga, Phuket and Ranong provinces. On occasion, manatees have been found caught in pushnets (Trang province).
Dugongs are a protected species that is near extinction. Dugongs eat sea grass as their main food, more than 10 kilograms per day. If seagrass areas are destroyed, it will impact on the manatees as well as on other marine animals that take refuge in the seagrass.
Pushnet fishing boats have an impact both at the macro and micro levels. Evaluation of the impact of deterioration on the ocean and communities shows that an appropriate analogy is to compare the destruction caused by pushnet fishing boats to that caused by a tractor. Assume there’s only one mountain. If an individual digs at the mountain using only a hoe for many years, the mountain will still be there. But if a tractor is used to do the digging, in less than a month the entire mountain will be gone.
2. Trawler dragnets
Fisheries data for 1961 indicate that dragnet trawlers harvested 298 kilograms of marine animals per hour of trawling that year, a figure which shows both the level of efficiency of fishing methods and the relative abundance of marine resources in Thai waters in the past. By the year 1985, the average catch per hour of trawling using the same type of equipment had declined to 54 kilograms. By 1999, the averaged had dropped again to about 3 kilograms per hour of trawling, and the fish caught were quite small and of little economic value. If no solution is found to this crisis, it is estimated that by the year 2003, the average yield will be no more than one kilogram per hour of trawling. This data shows the crisis proportions that the destruction of Thai seas has reached.
The deterioration of aquatic animal resources today is not the result of over-harvesting of only certain targeted species, rather it is due to the fact that large quantities of other species are harvested as well. What causes the deterioration and the increase in the rate of degradation is that the total number of dragnet trawlers of all types and sizes is still rising while the size of net mesh in the trawl bag is shrinking in an effort to increase the total harvest of junk fish and smaller fish as well as targeted species. Also, fishing boats which used to operate outside Thai territorial waters have returned to fish in the Gulf of Thailand due to the declaration of exclusive economic zones by neighboring countries and when the price of fuel increases, dragnet trawlers try to reduce their operating costs by fishing near to shore and catching more junk fish which further degrades resources, as do illegal fishing practices, especially the violation of laws prohibiting fishing in specified areas and during spawning seasons, including fishing in areas where young marine animals live while they are maturing.
In the season when sea turtles lay their eggs, many female turtles swim near shore where they become tangled in dragnets and drown, as a trawl can last from one to two hours before the nets are pulled in. Some fishermen, when they find a female sea turtle tangled in their nets, extract the eggs and either eat the eggs themselves or sell them to on-shore markets. This is another reason that the population of sea turtles has declined significantly in Thai waters. Some species of sea turtles are even nearing extinction, e.g., leatherback sea turtles and loggerhead sea turtles.
3. Boats using lights to fish for anchovy
Anchovies are small pelagic fish, about six to eight centimeters long. They require six months to reach full size, and live for mo more than three years, feeding on zooplankton, shrimp fry and immature crabs. In turn, these fish become food for Spanish mackerel, jack fish, dorab, bonito, squid/cuttlefish, etc.
Anchovy are widely distributed in Thai territorial waters, both in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Anchovy eggs are dense in the inner Gulf of Thailand area near Sattahiep, Chonburi Province and off the coast of Prachuabkhirikhan Province. On the Andaman side, the densest concentrations are along the provinces of Ranong and Satun.
In the past, most fishermen used purse seines to catch anchovy during the daytime because it was possible to see large schools of feeding fish near the surface. Later, methods of daytime fishing for anchovy were improved, with the use of big boats and modern fishing gear such as sonar to report depths, sounder to locate schools of fish, etc., which resulted in larger harvests.
In 1991, the use of lights to attract fish together with purse seines began in the eastern region, i.e., night fishing. Anchovy school to eat the zooplankton which are attracted to the light. Immature fish of other species gather as well to eat the plankton. When the nets are circled, nets which have a very fine mesh, both the anchovy and the immature fish of other species are caught. These immature fish are important economic species such as Spanish mackerel, bonito, sardines, jack fish, etc.
When using purse seines for daytime fishing, nearly all the fish caught (93%) are the target species, anchovy. However, with night fishing, only 52% of the catch is anchovy. The remaining 48% are immature fish of other species, particularly sardines (29%), mackerel (8%) and other economic marine animals. The result is very significant destruction of immature marine animals.
Fisheries data record the rapid rate of increase of anchovy fishing boats: in 1977 there were 19 registered anchovy fishing boats; by 1985 there were 638. Night fishing using lights increased very rapidly to the point that this has become the primary method of fishing. Squid/cuttlefish fishing boats using lights (squid boats) converted their fishing gear to fish for anchovy, thus destroying still greater numbers of immature fish of other species, a situation which had a major impact on fishing boats using other types of fishing gear.
4. Bombs / Poison
Habitat destruction is an important cause of the decline in the numbers of marine animals. Bombing and poisoning are important problems because those methods are capable of causing serious habitat destruction, e.g., to coral reefs, piles of underwater rocks, sunken boats and artificial reefs.
* Bombing Fish
Fish bombing is a very important problem, especially around coral reefs and piles of underwater rocks, which are colorful with the different life forms living around coral reefs. Bombing is not difficult for the fish bombers. The materials needed to make the bombs are easily obtained. For example, urea fertilizer, gasoline and fuses are available in markets everywhere. Thus, trying to solve the problem by controlling the raw materials of bombs would be difficult.
Effective means of resolving the problem could include conducting campaigns in communities to explain the negative impact on resources of using bombs while concurrently promoting adoption of alternative methods of resource use and giving local organizations a role in developing community-based methods of sustainable resource management.
*Poisoning Fish
The government must evidence their understanding of the importance of fish poisoning using cyanide or other poisons by providing knowledge to the people and conducting campaigns jointly with communities. Solving the problem by controlling the poisons would be difficult as the poison chemicals are available in markets everywhere, e.g., pesticides for termites and other insects, etc. Most fish poisoning is done in areas where there is a strong current or in the ocean, e.g., among coral reefs, to catch beautiful fish or rock lobsters for sale. There are different methods, but most commonly the poison is poured into plastic bags which are tied shut but which can be easily opened. The bags of poison are then taken down under the water. When a pretty fish they want to catch is observed, a bag of poison is opened near the fish so the poison can drift toward it. When the fish becomes unconscious or begins to move slowly, it will be captured and put in a tank of clean water to recuperate where it will be provided with oxygen and food.
Using poison in coral reef areas kills the corals at once. Because the coral animals have very thin membranes, the poison can easily penetrate their cells. When the coral dies, the reef ecology changes and other living things will begin to disappear because of those changes.
5. Non-standard Fishing Equipment
Non-standard fishing equipment means equipment which is not included in the appendix list prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives or equipment which has been modified for fishing. It could also include some traditional fishing gear.
Traps for mud crabs (foldable) are a type of locally made, legal fishing gear which was designed by a fisheries technical expert. The traps are similar to ordinary crab traps, but they can be folded for storage, which saves space on fishing boats. The mesh size is 2.5 centimeters. This locally made fishing gear was designed for use in harvesting mud crabs along the coast among the small channels or canals in a mangrove forest.
At present, however, this type of fishing gear is being used to harvest spider crabs in the open ocean at a depth of 10 to 20 meters or more. A total of 100 to 1,000 crab traps is strung along a line that can extend up to 10 kilometers. The crabs caught are small. They are boiled and the meat is extracted for sale. Very small crabs are sold whole to be eaten dipped in batter and fried. Sale of batter-fried baby crabs is increasing. It is a popular dish because the whole crab is eaten. This use of crab traps is considered to be another destructive fishing method because crabs of all sizes are caught.
The use of this type of fishing gear as described above can result in conflict with fishermen using other types of gear e.g., dragnet trawlers, bottom crab gill nets and floating gill nets. Problems have already arisen in around Chumporn Province
Solving the problem of destructive fishing gear
* Strict and diligent enforcement of laws
The government presently has policies and laws available to protect against fishing activities resource-destroying fishing methods invading coastal areas (within a distance of 3,000 meters from the shore); however, these policies and laws are widely disregarded, showing that law enforcement and policy implementation by government authorities, both at the central and local levels, is ineffective. It will be necessary for communities acting together to investigate the activities of officials and inform high level authorities when illegal activities are discovered and officials do not take appropriate action.
* Fisheries laws lack the necessary efficiency to sustainably manage marine fisheries and need to be remedied
The Fisheries Law of 1947 became effective at the very beginning of the period of significant marine fisheries development (1947-1972); however, from 1973 to the present, more than 26 years, marine fisheries have operated in a self-destructive fashion by destroying resources and focusing on harvesting all the marine animals. The 1947 Fisheries Law has been unable to stop the destruction, and in many instances, the law has actually facilitated an increase in the level of degradation.
The Fisheries Law of 1947 has a loophole which some government officials use as a tool for corruption. The Cabinet of Ministers resolution of 25 January 2000 concerning regulations to prevent corruption and inappropriate behavior related to the prosecution of violators of the Fisheries Law of 1947, called for the modification of the 1947 Fisheries Law by increasing the penalties for users of illegal fishing equipment which destroys marine resources to a level roughly equal to the value of the losses inflicted on the community or government assets and by allowing the presumption that the owner of a fishing boat or fishing equipment which is used illegally de facto has knowledge of and acquiesces to that illegal activity, therefore allowing for confiscation of fishing boats or equipment involved without having to consider whether an individual would be liable for a court-imposed penalty or not. These changes would close the loophole in the law and protect against unequal judgments by officials. |
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