In Thailand, bottom trawling threatens livelihoods, food security and ocean ecosystems. One particularly destructive form of bottom trawling, known as pair trawling, is responsible for catching vast amounts of juvenile fish and seafood which would otherwise have reached maturity as valuable species; urgent action is needed to reform fisheries now, says the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
In the waters around Thailand, fish populations are rapidly declining, with serious impacts for fishers in the country. The catch per unit effort – a measure of the fish caught for a given amount of fishing time – has fallen by almost 85% in the Andaman Sea and over 93% in the Gulf of Thailand.
Bottom trawling, where large nets are dragged on the bottom of the sea, is likely to have significantly contributed to this decline. Of Thailand’s 10,595 commercial fishing vessels, trawlers make up just a third of the numbers but over 50% of the catch – weighing approximately 560,000 tonnes in 2021.
“Thailand’s fish populations are being devastated by a small, unregulated portion of its commercial fleet. Destructive and uncontrolled bottom trawling is wiping out the ocean ecosystems that support livelihoods and food security across Thailand, in a short-term grab for profit at far greater longer term costs for everyone and the environment,” said Steve Trent, EJF CEO and Co-Founder.
Almost half of the catch is now so-called ‘trash fish’ – near-worthless catch which is not suitable for human consumption, a mixture of heavily degraded marine life caught at the back of the trawl net. Much of what is sold as trash fish is made up of juveniles of species which would have been highly valuable had they been able to mature. Therefore, every kilogram of trash fish sold by commercial trawlers is robbing Thai fishers in the future to pay them a pittance today, while at the same time destroying the ecological security of marine life.Â
This is particularly stark in the case of a uniquely damaging type of bottom trawling known as ‘pair trawling’. From 1990 to today, half the pair trawler catch has been trash fish – making up more than half of all the trash fish sold – and more than 80% of this trash fish catch was juveniles from highly valuable species. The indiscriminate fishing practices of pair trawlers are ravaging Thailand’s marine resources for little to no benefit, says EJF.
In a new briefing launched today, EJF calls for action from the Royal Thai Government (RTG) to carefully phase out the most destructive pair trawling fishing and end the disproportionate impact of this deeply damaging activity.
The NGO also recommends that the Department of Fisheries improves the oversight of fishing vessels, trials modifications to fishing gear to ensure juveniles are not caught and takes action to support particularly valuable species such as squid and short mackerel.
Read the full report here:Â https://ejfoundation.org/reports/scourge-of-the-seas