Small-fry fishing and Thailand’s ‘dead seas’
Re: “Rayong Bay a ‘dead sea’ for fishermen”, National, yesterday.
From personal observation for more than 10 years, I can confidently say that fishermen themselves must take some of the responsibility for the situation in Rayong.
I live here and every morning walk my dogs on Mae Ramphueng Beach, home to many of the fishermen your story refers to.
I have watched as they unload their catches, which contain very small fish. Other fishermen on the beach cast nets, again catching small fry that haven’t grown big enough to breed.
Although the fishermen are not to blame, other locals and tourists scour the sandy beach and take away small shellfish barely the size of my fingernails. At low tide they scamper on exposed rocks, again removing oysters smaller than the nail of my big toe.
As the old saying goes, what you sow, you shall reap. Unfortunately the situation in Rayong has been reversed for many years, and people are reaping before nature has had a chance to sow and replenish itself.
I am sure the situation is the same in many other parts of coastal Thailand.
David Brown
Rayong
