THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Renowned Chula veterinarian denounces her crew for illegal fishing of stingrays

Renowned Chula veterinarian denounces her crew for illegal fishing of stingrays

Four suspects have been arrested in Samut Songkhram after they allegedly took foreign tourists on an illegal fishing trip for endangered giant freshwater stingrays, after a video of the expedition in Mae Klong River went viral on Facebook Live.

Samut Songkhram Governor Khanchat Tansathian said the illegal fishing of giant freshwater stingrays was strictly forbidden unless there was special permission from the Fisheries Department.
Khanchat said he had ordered officers to investigate after he was informed on Monday that a video on the Facebook account of Benchawan Thiansungnoen showed tourists catching the giant stingrays.
The officers found the boat that appeared in the live broadcast anchored in front of a house in Tambon Suanluang in Amphawa district and found four men inside. They admitted that they had helped tourists fish for the stingrays.

Renowned Chula veterinarian denounces her crew for illegal fishing of stingrays
Officers also found that the men did not have a valid boat pilot’s licence, the boat was not registered with the Marine Department and there was illegal fishing equipment in the boat. Tests showed that three also had traces of amphetamines in their urine.
One of the suspects said that they had been hired by another man referred to only as “Boy” to organise a fishing trip for foreign tourists and claimed that they had permission to catch stingray for research purposes.

Renowned Chula veterinarian denounces her crew for illegal fishing of stingrays
However, officers found that the permission had expired in November 2016, so they were fishing illegally.
Regulations allow for stingrays to be caught for research purposes with the permission of the Fisheries Department director-general.
Khanchat said he had ordered the Provincial Fisheries Office to file a complaint against the four suspects at Amphawa Police Station, adding that people in Samut Songkhram cherished and wanted to save the endangered stingrays.
Bandit Pansawat, a local resident, said he had found Benchawan’s Facebook page, which had broadcast fishing of stingrays seven times. He said the four suspects were always seen assisting tourists.
Bandit said that after tourists caught a stingray, they often brought the fish out of the water and took a selfie with it, with the fish often being injured in the process.
“This is not a catch for research purposes and it is obvious that it is animal cruelty,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chulalongkorn University’s Aquatic Animal Disease Research Centre director Dr Nantarika Chansue said that she had asked for approval to catch the creatures for research purposes. She added that she had employed the suspects as her crew during research last year. However, after the research concluded, they used her permission without her knowledge, she said.
“I have seen the pictures of the giant freshwater stingrays that have been caught by tourists. They were injured and suffocated as the tourists brought them out of the water to take a picture,” Nantarika said.
“This is totally different from the catch procedures during my study on this animal, as we did not pull them hard and used only special fishing equipment to ensure that they would not get hurt.”
She added that although the fishing of giant freshwater stingrays for fun was harmful, the main threat to the survival of the stingrays was still water pollution, which can kill large number of fish.
Last year, many stingrays died from severe water pollution in Mae Klong River, she said.

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