It is fact that trawling and fishing by push net has caused great threat to fish species and these are the main reason for a dramatic and continuous decline in the marine animal’s population. According to official statistics, more than 10 dugongs have died over the past 4 months as a result of commercial fishing. The autopsy of a 40-year-old male dugong in Thailand’s Satun province clearly showed the animal did not die from illness or infection. Instead, the oedema in its chest helped confirm the dugong had struggled to survive so hard it was finally died of shock.
A marine biologist at Phuket Marine Biological Centre, who performed an autopsy for this dugong, believed fishing tools were the culprit. Phaothep Cherdsukjai, a marine biologist, said it is found that there’s no wound on its body caused by a fishing tool, there are traces inside the body, which indicate the dugong suffered a serious shock. Phuket Marine Biological Centre Commercial fishing, namely by trawler and push net, is directly resulting in a sharp drop in the dugong population, as well as other endangered species such as sea turtles.
Phaothep informed that illegal fishing within restricted area of 3,000 metres from the shoreline causes the large animals to be trapped in a net, unable to push themselves up to breathe on the sea’s surface, which finally ends in their death. He also said that if things continue like this then within the next 10 to 20 years, endangered marine species including dugongs and sea turtles would become extinct in the Thai ocean.
