The Department of Fisheries has imposed the annual fishing ban in the Gulf of Thailand for 90 days from February 15th to May 15th.
The ban covers an area spanning three coastal provinces, including Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon and Surat Thani. The measure aims to protect young fish and to allow them to repopulate.
The upcoming ban will be applicable to the lower part of the gulf, before moving to the central region from May 16th to June 14th, for another 30 days.
The ban restricts the use of certain types of fishing equipment in order to conserve and protect fish stocks, particularly mackerel, during the spawning season. Violators will be subject to fines of between 5,000 baht to 30 million baht depending on the fishing equipment types they use and the output they illegally catch.
Local fishermen will not be affected much by the ban.
Small mackerel in the Gulf of Thailand often swim to the gulf’s upper part, therefore the fishing ban is applied to the area to let the young fish grow into a spawning age. The fish then travel to the central part of the gulf to spawn.
More information about the ban can be found at the Department of Fisheries’s official website http://www4.fisheries.go.th. (NNT)
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