Phuket man, 63, caught with hundreds of reef fish

[Lite Beer]

Phuket man, 63, caught with hundreds of reef fish
Tanyaluk Sakoot

Officials unload the large box used to transport the fish.

PHUKET: A 63-year-old local man was arrested on Friday evening (March 6) at Chalong Circle after being caught in possession of about 310 reef fish which he was about to despatch to Bangkok for sale.

Among the fish confiscated from him were Lionfish, Bannerfish, Butterfly fish, Clown fish and Trigger fish, all packed into 57 plastic bag with no oxygenators.

Kan told police that his job was only to transport the fish by bus from Phuket to Takua Pa in Phang Nga province.

Police were not convinced. They charged him with collecting exotic marine fish without permission, contravening the Environment Act.

The fish were taken to the Andaman Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Centre in Phuket.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-man-63-caught-with-hundreds-of-reef-fish-51301.php

-- Phuket News 2015-03-08

[off road pat]

Send him to jail confiscate his car and fine him 10 x the amount the fish would have costed on the illegal market.....but this will never happen.

[ToddinChonburi]

Well at least they caught the piece of garbage.

[recycler]

Probably most of the fish are still too small to eat.

[Oziex1]

Probably most of the fish are still too small to eat.

I think they were for aquariums, any way too small to eat isn't a consideration here.

[csabo]

Divers in various parts of the world (mostly southeast Asia) often catch these fish with cyanide which stuns them for easy capture but poisons the reef and kills most of the days catch. Seems every business has a shady side.

Here are some details about cyanide fishing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide_fishing

[Beng]

Put him in a plastic bag as well.

[2fishin2]

First, how do we know what he did was illegal? How do you think that saltwater aquariums get fish? Whats worse taking a few ornamental fish for the aquarium business or raping the oceans with huge drag nets with illegal migrant workers?