Three-month ban on fishing
MUCH OF Rayong Bay has been closed since last month to replenish fish stocks that have diminished since oil spill two years ago.
Rayong Governor Somsak Suwansujarit has declared a three-month closure of Rayong Bay from the coast to 19 kilometres offshore.
Trawlers and other vessels equipped with push nests are banned from the area until the end of December.
To enforce the ban, Somsak said he had informed fishermen in Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan and Samut Songkhram provinces, as most of them worked in the Rayong Bay.
Sum-aoy Rattanavijit, head of the Rayong Traditional Small Fishing Boats Association, said 100 association members had complained about effect of the oil spill with Rayong’s Dhamrongtham Centre in September.
The association said fishing activities had been seriously affected and proposed the ban. Its members created artificial reefs 600 metres and 19km offshore in a bid to boost fish stocks.
