SCG Chemicals builds homes for fish to help local community
IN FIVE YEARS of building “fish homes” in Rayong and Chonburi provinces SCG Chemicals has completed 1,100 fish homes made of polyethylene pipes in an effort to work with local people to restore the abundance of marine resources and create new opportunity for community fisher folk.
This year, the company aims to expand the fish homes to cover all of the eastern coastal area with a plan to build another 1,000 fish homes in Chanthaburi and Trat provinces.
SCG Chemicals kicked off the Fish Home project in 2012 as awareness grew about the decrease in fish and aquatic animals in the Gulf of Thailand and the resulting impact on the income and living conditions of Rayong fisher folk. The chemical company hit on the idea of a Fish Home project to help preserve remaining coastal biodiversity and encourage the self-reliance of those who make their living from the sea.
The project now involves some 29 folk fishing groups and helps preserve the marine resources over a 30-square-kilometre zone, said Cholanat Yanaranop, president of SCG Chemicals.
In addition, the company observed biological diversity and found that more than 120 types of aquatic animals were inhabiting the spots where the fish homes were placed, helping preserve marine resources so that another generation of locals could continue fishing for a living.
After a thorough discussion with the Office of Marine and Coastal Resources Management 1 and Rayong fisher folk, SCG Chemicals came up with a design for the fish homes using a high density polyethylene compound called PE100, which is the left over from product testing.
Making good reuse of the leftover plastic aligns with SCG Chemical’s “waste to value” concept.
Cholanat ensured that the PE100 pipes are produced from polyethylene plastic used to transport drinking water.
They have passed safety standards to ensure no toxic chemicals are present.
Reusing PE 100 pipes left over from manufacturing to create model fish habitats will lower energy consumption in waste management, reduce toxic substances, and is harmless for land and marine environments.
The PE pipes are durable and last for over 50 years, thus ensuring that PE100 is fit for fish homes. Once the invention is placed on the seabed, it provides shelter for corals, barnacles and several other marine species.
“When working together, we can improve the living conditions of the community members and increase the number and diversity of coastal marine lives while boosting the income of local fisher groups along the Rayong coastlines,” said Cholanat.
Fish hot spot
Puchong Saritdeechai-kul, director of the Office of Marine and Coastal Resources Management 1, said the Fish Home project substantially responds to the concerns of the fisher folk groups and expands the total marine and coastal preservation areas in Rayong and Chonburi.
The evidence lies in the expansion of the total size of marine and coastal preservation areas in Rayong and Chonburi that is becoming a hot spot for commercial fish species.
The project also lead to a mutual commitment that all fishers will refrain from fishing in the marine and coastal preservation areas.
SCG Chemical recently joined force with Rayong Province and the Office of Marine and Coastal Resources Management 1, to conduct “Volunteers for Building Fish Home by SCG Chemicals” activities at Lam Charoen Public Park, Rayon. More than 500 volunteers nation-wide joined hands to build fish homes in the event.
