Dolphins in Thailand: Snagged, but not defeated

Villagers take matters into their own hands after state-funded efforts to save the dolphin struggle to make headway
Kunlayawee Waewkraihong Bangkok Post 26 Mar 11;

Dolphin conservation by private groups looks to be a lost cause as more of the rare aquatic mammals turn up dead on beaches.

Last year more than 100 dolphins were wounded or killed by fishing nets laid by fishermen along Thailand's coastline, according to statistics.

To conservation groups in coastal provinces, these figures are alarming. However, the main problem has been not being able to attract the attention of state agencies, according to environmental advocates.

Some groups are frustrated that state agencies are not doing enough to answer urgent calls to rescue and protect the animals.

They say some environmental officials on inspection trips simply jot down numbers of dolphins and send reports to their superiors.

In the past 15 months, up to 41 dolphins have been found dead in Trat province on beaches in Muang district's Ban Laem Klad and Khlong Yai district's tambon Mai Rood.

The areas are under the supervision of the Provincial Office for Natural Resources and Environment and the Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre.

As more and more dolphins are dying without serious protection measures being implemented by the state, villagers are taking matters into their own hands.

"We cannot wait for the province or fisheries officials to take action," said Thad Jitsapaporn, head of a dolphin conservation group in Ban Laem Klad.

He says villagers have set up an improvised dolphin protection zone in front of their seaside village to bar fishermen from entering the area where dolphins feed.

His group has waited in vain for two months after a formal request was submitted to government offices to declare a conservation zone. "We've decided to place buoys attached with flags near the beach to declare the zone," said Mr Thad.

Since the zone was put in place, the group has received some help from the Marine and Coastal Resources Department, which has ordered its officials to be on the lookout for fishing in prohibited areas.

Mr Thad says his group is not satisfied with the outcome of its campaign because there were still reports of dead dolphins.

"But we will carry on the conservation efforts with or without help from state agencies," he said.

The dolphins are essential for the ecology and the sea is not the same without them, say villagers.

The designation of dolphin safety zones can protect the mammals from becoming trapped in fishing gear.

In Trat, many dolphins have been killed because their feeding grounds overlap with fishing areas, said Phuchong Saritdichaikul, director of the marine and coastal resources centre for the east of the Gulf of Thailand.

In the southern province of Songkhla, 13 dolphins were found beached last year, taking the number of beached dolphins in the province to 81 in the past 20 years.

'There are only about 40 dolphins left in the area of Songkhla Lake," said Santi Nilawat of the Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre.

The most dramatic discovery was of two dead Irrawaddy dolphins _ a mother and her calf _ that were trapped in a fishing net in August last year.

Officials believe the pregnant dolphin, which needed more food than usual, swam into the lake where many fishermen had placed their fishing gear.

Dolphins have also been illegally caught and sold to private buyers and zoos. Many dolphins have been taken from the southern province of Trang on the Andaman coast.

In August last year, highway police stopped a suspicious vehicle for inspection in tambon Bun Krating in Chumphon's Muang district. They found two female humpback dolphins in the pickup truck.

Three men admitted they were hired by the owner of a zoo in Chon Buri to catch the dolphins off Trang's coast.

It was not the first time dolphins have been seized in Trang, said Tawan Tuiuan, head of a dolphin conservation group in Ban Ta Se in Trang's Hat Samran district.

In the past, some villagers were happy to be paid to catch dolphins.

"They left the dolphins in a shrimp pond. The animals were to be sent to a businessman at a price of 5,000 baht each," said Mr Tawan. "Luckily, the dolphins were found by other villagers first."

Many conservation groups are campaigning against dolphin trafficking.

They also serve as guards against fishing in prohibited areas and the use of fishing gear deemed harmful to dolphins.

However, despite the conservation efforts, the number of dolphin deaths has risen.

"Conservation groups alone cannot ensure 100% safety for dolphins," said Phisit Charnsano, chairman of the Yard Fon Foundation, a Trang-based environmental group.

He said conservation campaigns would be futile without help from state offices.

Some officials even colluded with gangs that traded dolphins, he claimed.

Dolphins are a member of a complex marine ecosystem where various aquatic species depend on one another to exist.

The loss of many dolphins will disrupt the balance of nature.

"When one animal is affected, it will have knock-on effects on other creatures," said Mr Phisit.

If the duty to protect dolphins is mainly shouldered by villagers without state support, the future of the dolphins looks bleak, say conservationists.

They say the government should do its bit to help.