- Title: Climate change exacerbates problem of fish decline for Thai fishermen
- Date: 28th November 2016
- Summary: AT SEA, PETCHBURI, THAILAND (RECENT - NOVEMBER 15, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FISHING BOATS FLOATING AT SEA SEA SAMUT SAKHON, THAILAND (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) WORKERS UNLOADING BASKETS OF FISH ONTO CONVEYOR VARIOUS OF FISH BEING TRANSFERRED FROM BOAT INTO BASKETS WORKERS PASSING BASKETS VARIOUS OF WORKERS SORTING OUT FISH AT PIER WORKER SITTING AND SORTING OUT FISH ON GROUND FISH IN PLASTIC CONTAINERS WORKERS UNLOADING FISH ONTO GROUND FOR SORTING OUT CAPTAIN OF A FISHING TRAWLER, 54-YEAR-OLD KASEM YARNPRATUENG, LOOKING AT WORKERS WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) FISHING BOAT CAPTAIN, KASEM YARNPRATUENG, 54, SAYING: "In the past, when I was still a worker on the boat we used to get tonnes and tonnes of fish from one or two rounds of laying the fishnet. Nowadays, we had to lay the fish net down three to four times. The number of fish have drastically declined." FISH BOAT TRAWLER ARRIVING AT THE PIER / BOAT TRAWLERS DOCKING WORKERS REELING FISHNET ON BOAT FISH CAUGHT FROM TRAWLER ON BOAT WORKERS WORKING ON BOAT BANGKOK, THAILAND (NOVEMBER 22, 2016) (REUTERS) MARINE BIOLOGIST AT CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SUCHANA CHAVANICH, TALKING NEAR POSTER OF CORAL FISH BOARD SHOWING CORAL REEF FISH OF THAILAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARINE BIOLOGIST AT CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SUCHANA CHAVANICH, SAYING: "I think right now is overfishing, because the demand is too high and now we find that in many areas there's not really have many fish left. So if (there are) no fish left, even though there's climate change happening now, if we have no fish, the climate change is not going to have an effect on the fish population. So, overfishing is probably still the main important thing that is happening in the Gulf of Thailand." SUCHANA SITTING AND TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARINE BIOLOGIST AT CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SUCHANA CHAVANICH, SAYING: "Because coral acts as a home for the fish and crab and others, so when corals disappear, that makes other fish and other reef organisms disappear too and that's why we will definitely, eventually, get the effect from that."
- Embargoed: 13th December 2016 02:38
- Keywords: Thailand fishing climate change sea water temperature
- Location: BANGKOK, SAMUT SAKHON, CHONBURI, AT SEA / THAILAND
- City: BANGKOK, SAMUT SAKHON, CHONBURI, AT SEA / THAILAND
- Country: Thailand
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ACWTAD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Environmental groups warn that Thailand and its multi-billion dollar fishing industry face a losing battle against the impact of climate change.
A rise in seawater temperature, along with overfishing, threatens the recovery of fish stocks and is why fishing boats venture out into illegal zones in the deep ocean, according to industry experts.
At Samut Sakhon Fish Pier, fishermen unload buckets of Bulu barbs which they say is practically the only type of fish left in the sea.
The pier is known for boats bringing in tonnes of short mackerel which are higher in value, but fishermen say no boats have caught any in the past few months.
"In the past, when I was still a worker on the boat we used to get tonnes and tonnes of fish from one or two rounds of laying the fishnet. Nowadays, we had to lay the fish net down three to four times. The number of fish have drastically declined," said Kasem Yarnpratueng, a 54-year old captain of a trawler who has been in the business for 40 years.
He added that boats now have to extend their trips from half a day to a couple of nights to meet their target catch as he estimated that the fish population has halved over the past five years.
According to One Shared Ocean project, a non-profit organization that monitors marine issues, Thai fish stocks peaked in 2006 with 856,212 tonnes of fish caught in the Gulf of Thailand. In 2010, 617,568 tonnes were caught.
While climate change plays a role in the fish decline, overfishing is still the main reason, says marine biologist Suchana Chavanich.
"Because the demand is too high and now we find that in many areas there's not really have many fish left. So if (there are) no fish left, even though there's climate change happening now, if we have no fish, the climate change is not going to have an effect on the fish population. So, overfishing is probably still the main important thing that is happening in the Gulf of Thailand," she said.
Suchana said while ocean temperatures vary naturally from year to year, seawater has warmed to an extent that it is causing coral bleaching. When water is too warm, corals, an essential and most vulnerable part of the marine ecosystem, will expel the algae living in their tissues, causing the coral to turn white.
This in turn causes the fish population to decline.
"Because coral acts as a home for the fish and crab and others, so when coral disappear, that makes other fish and other reef organisms disappear too and that's why we will definitely, eventually get the effect from that," Suchana told Reuters.
Suchana added that the decline in fish population was the reason that boats, seeking more fish, venture out into illegal zones and deeper waters.
This could prove problematic for Thailand, the world's third largest seafood exporter, who is desperate to avoid a European Union ban.
The EU issued the country a "yellow card" in April 2015 for failing to crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. It says such measures are in line with its policy to create "sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources" and to reduce "damage to the marine environment by overfishing and irresponsible fishing."
The government in turn has installed GPS systems on licensed fishing boats, which would flag up boats that go into illegal fishing zones.
Thailand exported 481 million euros ($511 million) worth of fish and seafood products to the bloc in 2015, according to European Union data. Over 300,000 people are employed in the seafood sector, many of them migrant workers from neighbouring countries. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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