Renowned Chula veterinarian denounces her crew for illegal fishing of stingrays

[webfact]

Renowned Chula veterinarian denounces her crew for illegal fishing of stingrays
By The Nation

 

 

SAMUT SONGKRAN: -- 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.

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30319499

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-30

 

[impulse]

Sport fishing for a species with catch and release is probably one of the best ways to insure their long term survival.  

 

Between the tourist $$$ they bring in, the ridiculous money they'll pay for the actual fishing outing and the publicity they bring to the fish and its plight, there is probably no other group that will do more to make sure the fish is still around for generations to come.

 

Especially the way all those $$$ make it in a lot of locals' best interest to protect their golden goose.

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by impulse

[ezzra]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Last year, many stingrays died from severe water pollution in Mae Klong River, she said.

I don't recall the esteemed veterinarian voicing her concerns so loud when,

as she said, many stingrays dies because of a polluted water, and other

illegal fishing that is going on all around the country's waters,

however, if this incident will bring the right attention to the plight of

the dying stingrays, that it did served a good purpose.... 

[wvavin]

Whether it is local or foreigners, punish them severely if they have no permit for this or jail them if they are found to have abusing drugs!

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the main threat to the survival of the stingrays was still water pollution, which can kill large number of fish.

aha; so the tourists are not the problem

[jak2002003]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

Sport fishing for a species with catch and release is probably one of the best ways to insure their long term survival.  

 

Between the tourist $$$ they bring in, the ridiculous money they'll pay for the actual fishing outing and the publicity they bring to the fish and its plight, there is probably no other group that will do more to make sure the fish is still around for generations to come.

 

Especially the way all those $$$ make it in a lot of locals' best interest to protect their golden goose.

 

I can see your logic... same as hunting... so people protect the species numbers to ensure people can still hunt.

 

But, things are a bit different here.. with corruption, greed and incompetence.  Controls would be ignored and fishing practices flaunted for sure. 

 

 

[robblok]

21 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

I can see your logic... same as hunting... so people protect the species numbers to ensure people can still hunt.

 

But, things are a bit different here.. with corruption, greed and incompetence.  Controls would be ignored and fishing practices flaunted for sure. 

 

 

With hunting you kill the animal.. with catch and release you dont especially if you don't take the fish out of the water. 

[yellowboat]

Idiots. 

[DaveE13]

They are massive. What age are they roughly? Maybe someone with a bit of knowledge about fresh water sting Ray?

[Grusa]

4 hours ago, impulse said:

 

 

Especially the way all those $$$ make it in a lot of locals' best interest to protect their golden goose.

 

Most locals are too stupid to realise that dead geese stop laying eggs, don't breed, and are a limited source of income.

Same as fish, forests, and farangs.

Edited June 30, 2017 by Grusa
Improve alliteration

[impulse]

1 minute ago, Grusa said:

Most locals are too stupid to realise that dead geese stop laying eggs, don't breed, and are a limited source of income.

Same as fish, forests, and tourists.

  

Your locals must be different from mine.  We have hundreds of competent, intelligent Thai's working for us on a daily basis.  Dozens in the BKK office and hundreds in the fields, many of them from the boondocks.

 

[Grusa]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

  

Your locals must be different from mine.  We have hundreds of competent, intelligent Thai's working for us on a daily basis.  Dozens in the BKK office and hundreds in the fields, many of them from the boondocks.

 

I did say "most"! Hundreds in your organisation is a very small percentage of millions in the country. Hundreds here are obscenely rich - millions are desperately poor. Hundreds are well-educated, intelligent and hard working - millions are ill-educated, brainwashed, and also hard working! Hundreds are corrupt, lazy, greedy and dishonest. Millions are not.

I would guess that even in your organisation, there are a few who are less upstanding than you suggest!

[pumpjack]

why were they not thrown in jail ( same as the russian woman jailed & fined 100000 for feeding fish )

[spidermike007]

5 hours ago, impulse said:

Sport fishing for a species with catch and release is probably one of the best ways to insure their long term survival.  

 

Between the tourist $$$ they bring in, the ridiculous money they'll pay for the actual fishing outing and the publicity they bring to the fish and its plight, there is probably no other group that will do more to make sure the fish is still around for generations to come.

 

Especially the way all those $$$ make it in a lot of locals' best interest to protect their golden goose.

 

 

Perhaps you are correct. With most species. Although hard to imagine these sting rays did not suffer, when they were taken out of the water for the purpose of taking photos. Did any of them die in the process? Did they keep them, or put them back? Either way, certain species should be left alone. How many of the large sting rays do you suppose are left in the Gulf, at this point? I would guess very few.

 

Hopefully these cretons will spend a significant amount of time in prison, though I doubt it.

[impulse]

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Perhaps you are correct. With most species. Although hard to imagine these sting rays did not suffer, when they were taken out of the water for the purpose of taking photos. Did any of them die in the process? Did they keep them, or put them back? Either way, certain species should be left alone. How many of the large sting rays do you suppose are left in the Gulf, at this point? I would guess very few.

 

Hopefully these cretons will spend a significant amount of time in prison, though I doubt it.

 

Take away their value as a tourist attraction and all you have left is a huge, tasty treat for midnight fishermen.

 

[impulse]

3 hours ago, Grusa said:

Hundreds are corrupt, lazy, greedy and dishonest. Millions are not.

I would guess that even in your organisation, there are a few who are less upstanding than you suggest!

 

One of the things that surprised me in taking to lot of Thai's is how aware they are that they're living in a dysfunctional system.  So many times, what looks like laziness or greed (or whatever) is really just acceptance of the reality on the ground and their best attempt to live in that reality, and not in some world that just doesn't exist here in LOS.  Which puts a lot of them ahead of the average foreigner who is trying to live by a western, affluent code that doesn't exist here.

 

But, in full disclosure, we don't find our good people at random...

[Time Traveller]

36 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I take it you don't partake in the most popular participant sport in the entire world?

 

The intrinsic value of the fish as creatures of God doesn't rely on monetary reward.  But money's a pretty good incentive for poor people to protect a resource instead of eating it.  

 

If you have a better plan (that will work in Thailand) for protecting the long term survival of the freshwater stingrays, please enlighten us.

 

 

I don't know how you came to that conclusion. I fish and I eat fish. But there's a reason that some species are protected, and it's fools like these people that make the law abiding people have to pay the price......The better plan is simple. Jail these people that interfere with or hunt protected species.  Dumb douche bag tourists should visit an aquarium if they want to see rare aquatic animals. Or simply stick to legal species.    

Unbelievable that you actually asked that question. I can only assume you break the law whenever you feel like it?

 

[impulse]

7 minutes ago, Time Traveller said:

Unbelievable that you actually asked that question. I can only assume you break the law whenever you feel like it?

 

I can't recall ever breaking a game law.  But I don't make 300 baht a day with 3 kids, a wife and a MIL to feed, and a river full of 1000 lb tasty and marketable fish in my backyard.   Combined with no game wardens and cops notorious for looking the other way.

 

One guy could come up with some new method of snagging the stingrays, it could catch on, and they could be cleaned out in a few months.  And who would file the complaint?

 

If there were guys making money on tourists fishing for them, there would be someone with a vested interest.  Otherwise, having that grumpy (and hungry) MIL could trump every law.  Of course, that's in the real world...

[lvr181]

5 hours ago, YetAnother said:

aha; so the tourists are not the problem

Wrong - so many tourists that they are polluting the water ways. Overloaded sewerage systems, too much showering and keeping clean, always laundry, so it has to be tourists!   

[Bluespunk]

5 hours ago, YetAnother said:

aha; so the tourists are not the problem

Nah, I bet those pesky foreigners are polluting the water as well. 

[csabo]

11 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Not a fan of hunting until they figure out how to make it "catch and release".  That's how I fish.  I'm especially dismayed by offering hunts of endangered critters, no matter how much $$$ they bring in- too much potential for corruption.

 

But I can tell you that the deer and turkey populations in the USA are higher today than they were when the first European settlers hit the shores of the USA.  Loss of habitat for migratory birds like ducks and geese has been slowed down or reversed.  Largely because of the conservation efforts of hunters.

 

I've mixed feelings about hunting, but not fishing.  (Okay, as I get older, I do feel a twinge of regret about stressing the fish)  If a guy's willing to pay 20,000-50,000 baht to catch (and release) a stingray, I suspect the locals will take really good care of their stingray population.  Maybe even to the point where they rat out polluters who are killing their golden goose.

 

I agree with a lot of what you say and my post was mostly to raise awareness. Hunters have some valid arguments I know. For me there is something sacred about certain animals.  To kill an elephant or a rhino or a lion just twists my guy. And knowing that poachers use chainsaws to cut off rhino horns so some old chinese guy can get an erection makes me want to drop a nuclear bomb on China.  As far as Thais taking care of an income  resource I must disagree. When you see the litter on some of the most beautiful beaches the world has to offer you know they see no correlation between upkeep and income. They would kill every stingray in sight for a days worth of yahbah today and not give a second thought about tomorrow.

[worgeordie]

"Regulations allow for stingrays to be caught for research purposes "

the same excuse Japan uses to catch  Whales.

regards worgeordie

[4MyEgo]

Would have been nice if the ray pierced him right in the heart with its tail, no great loss, really

 

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed as well as a reply.

 

A post containing inflammatory comments has been removed as well as a reply. 

[Laab Muu]

On ‎30‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 0:04 AM, ezzra said:

I don't recall the esteemed veterinarian voicing her concerns so loud when,

as she said, many stingrays dies because of a polluted water, and other

illegal fishing that is going on all around the country's waters,

 

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/pollution-linked-to-deaths-of-over-70-endangered-giant-stingrays/article/479431

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30297919

 

https://www.pressreader.com/thailand/the-nation/20161019/281642484700285

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150311-giant-stingray-largest-freshwater-fish-thailand-whiptail-animals/

 

https://www.bustle.com/articles/69451-this-800-pound-stingray-found-in-thailand-is-as-big-as-a-car-photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LisuLover]

Where is the sting on these rays?  With the rays I've seen, the sting (serrated prong) is on the top of the tail, between where the 'Superhero' has his left hand and the ray's body.  Cant say Im sorry when fishermen or television wildlife experts are stung by rays.  Leave them alone.

[rickudon]

As reported in the National geographic article, the vet from Chula goes out with the team who organise the fishing expeditions so she can study the fish, as so little is known about them. Otherwise she would not be able to study them easily.  Not sure if this is the same boat where the 4 people were arrested. Certainly the photos of the fish from the recent case were not being handled as carefully.

 

Angling gives these fish a value, and when catch and release is used limits the damage done to the population. If not for angling, the only 'value' these fish would have to locals is how many baht per kilo they would fetch in local markets.

 

These fish used to be found in rivers from the bay of Bengal from the Ganges round to Vietnam and in Indonesia. They are now only found in large rivers flowing into the Gulf of Thailand, Cambodia and the Mekong. The only way to save them is for them to have a value alive, not dead. Pollution is the largest danger, unfortunately the polluter usually doesn't pay in Thailand.