Discarded fishing nets continue to kill marine life in national park

More than 100 kilograms of discarded fishing nets have been retrieved from the coral reef at Yavasam Island near Talay Waek in Krabi, highlighting the great threat of marine ecosystem degradation from sea garbage, “ghost fishing” and illegal fishing in the National Park area.

A team of divers from Local Diving Krabi revealed yesterday that they had found large remnants of fishing nets covering part of the coral reef, trapping many fish, some of them dead.

Photo from: Oumn Paranya's Facebook
The divers, who set the trapped fish free and cleaned the reef, said the discarded nets were around 100 metres long and weighed more than 100 kilograms. They suspect that the netting was quite new and would have been left at the site no longer than a week ago.

Discarded fishing nets continue to kill marine life in national park

Photo from: Oumn Paranya's Facebook
Chaowalit Phumchuai, a diving trainer, says the coral reef at Yavasam Island is situated inside the Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi Marine National Park and is a favourite spot for tourists. Visitors are attracted to the area because the coral reef ecosystem is healthy and contains many beautiful and colourful fish.

Discarded fishing nets continue to kill marine life in national park

Photo from: Oumn Paranya's Facebook
However, Chaowalit says fishing boats frequently operate illegally near the reef and he is urging the national park authorities and other agencies to get serious with the illegal activity, because if the coral reef is permanently damaged, the tourism industry will be harmed as well.
Meanwhile, leading marine biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat said that a great concern resulting from this activity was “ghost fishing”. This occurs when discarded fishing nets under the sea continue to trap fish, needlessly killing the marine population.

Discarded fishing nets continue to kill marine life in national park