Supara Janchitfah
Once making his living in the night time anchovy industry, Charoen Thongma has switched sides and now lobbies for an outright government ban on the business. What caused this change of heart?A native of Songkhla, Charoen is about five feet tall, his skin is dark and his fingers scarred from fish hooks and handling boats. His boat, a six metre by two metre outboard canoe with a 2.5 litre diesel engine, enables him to make a living from the sea and send his children to school.
A few years ago, fishing trawlers couldn't bring their catches to shore because there was nowhere deep enough to dock.
That's how Mr Charoen found a second job to supplement his coastal fishing.
"I used to carry anchovies from the fishing boats to the villages where the fish is boiled and dried. But I stopped."
FISHERMAN'S FLIP
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| To keep out of trouble, Manub and his family stick to coastal fishing.-Supara Janchitfah |
They explained that to catch the anchovies, fishing trawlers use 0.5 cm mesh nets. To increase their catch, they spread their nets at night and use lots of spotlights to attract the fish. It was then that he saw how the trawlers' fine-mesh nets not only caught anchovies but a great number of fingerlings of various species. "By catching these fry we are undermining our future catches," the fishermen pointed out.
A fisherman himself, Mr Charoen saw first-hand proof of the maritime havoc a year later. "Using artisan fishing tools, I used to get about 800 baht for fish per day. But by 1996, I could only catch about 200 baht worth. Sometimes I return empty-handed," said Mr Charoen.
"Then I saw how destructive nocturnal anchovy fishing is," he said.
The realisation galvanised him. He started talking with people around him, including visiting businessmen in the anchovy trade. Then he joined the Federation of Small-Scale Southern Fishermen, a group intent on protecting fishery resources and lobbying for laws against the destructive practice of night fishing for anchovies. After three years of petitions, in July 1998, the Songkhla Provincial Fisheries signed an announcement banning anchovy fishing in Songkhla using spotlinghts and fine-mesh nets. But that was not the end of the problem.
SLIPPING THROUGH THE NET
While the ban ensures that Songkhla Fisheries provincial office doesn't issue permits for commercial anchovy fishing, other provinces do.
The Fishery Department generally collects a 200 baht fishing permission fee from small fishermen while commercial anchovy fishermen pay only 105 baht. A fishery official who asked not to be named admits that since the 1998 ban, Songkhla Fisheries have stopped issuing permits for nocturnal anchovy fishing. "However, there are about 250 nocturnal anchovy boats still fishing in Songkhla. They get permission elsewhere and catch here," he said.
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| Horha's wife driis anchovy fish. |
While the Ministerial Announcement allows the use of fine-mesh nets and electric spotlights, Songkhla bans them.
The 1996 Ministerial Annoucement was issued when Mr Monthon Kraiwatnusorn, whose background is in commercial fishing, was deputy agriculture minister.
Mr Charoen wants the government to take action, and fast. "Our catch is even less now. Nocturnal anchovy fishing is still active here and other coastal provinces. We want the government to tackle this issue properly and so the only option for us is another protest," he said.
COMMERCE PLEADS ITS CASE
The commercial anchovy fishing trawler group tries to win the public over by pointing to the jobs the industry provides for locals and its contribution to the economy.
Fifteen commercial fishing boat owners interviewed by Perspective, mostly from eastern provinces such as Rayong and Chanthaburi, claim that they are only in Songkhla to escape the monsoon.
"Not that there aren't any fish to catch in Chanthaburi or Rayong," said Mr Amorn Naksawadi, a trawler owner.
However, none seems eager to return to the east after the monsoon. Many admit that they prefer to stay in the South. "Returning to Rayong is dangerous," said Mr Suthad Vichayanasarn who, like most other boat owners, admits to hiring foreign labourers because "Thai people shun this job.""I moved my boat to the Andaman during the monsoon season in Songkhla," admitted Mrs Chom Singhad. But she declined to explain why she hasn't returned home.
It is common knowledge among marine experts that the marine resources in the eastern provinces have been depleted by intensive fishing.
FISH WIVES' TALES
Over two days, a large number of Muslim women gathered to show their concern for their anchovy related businesses. They all had stories to tell.
"There was a time when our small fishing boat yielded nothing," said Wanee Arepo from Satun. And she knows why: "Everyone wants to catch fish. There's too many of us." Her opinion was shared by many others at the gathering.
"Because of that, my husband left for Malaysia to work in a rubber plantation. But the anchovy trade has helped a lot. Now, my husband and I can boil and dry anchovy fish. That enables us to live together," said Wanee.
Most of the women said processing anchovies had improved the quality of their lives.
"I have eight children," said Mrs Wai Kerdsuwan of Ban Mung Ngam. "All of them had to stop going to school. Now, they can go back because I earn enough from drying anchovies." These people claim that the anchovy business not only brings in money but has helped curtail drug addiction in the villages."
PAY BACK TIME
The small village of Ban Lae is located 500 metres from Songkhla deep-sea port. The village announces its presence to the visitor with the strong smell of fish and polluted wastewater.
Horha Sansuwan and his wife are immune to the smell. "We started in the anchovy processing business this year and invested a lot of money in it.
"If the government bans anchovy fishing, our investment will be in trouble," Horha said, as he spread out boiled anchovies to dry in the sun.
He bought equipment for boiling and drying anchovy fish on funds loaned by a village money-lender. "The interest rate is high-20 percent a month," he said.
As the business only runs for six months each year, Horha uses his small boat to catch other fish during the off season.
"But there is nothing much left to catch in the sea," he sighed. He has no explanation for why there are fewer fish, but he thinks the depletion of coastal fish stock has nothing to do with the large trawlers since they catch anchovies far out to sea.
Meanwhile, he enjoys a regular income from the anchovy processing business.
"I buy fresh anchovies at 7.5 baht a kilo. Boiling and drying 10 kilos of fresh fish yields three kilos of dried fish, which I sell to fish brokers for 28 baht per kilo," said Horha. He earns nine baht for every 10 kilos of fresh fish. Each day, he processes about 100 kilos, and earns about 90 baht gross. But this excludes the cost of gas and salt to boil the anchovies with.
He invested more than 5,000 baht in a stove, a pan, baskets and net frames.
As his neighbours have done for over three years now, Horha pours the salty water into the ground after boiling the fish. He does not realise that this is why the villagers cannot drink the water from their own wells anymore and have to buy potable water supplies. Aside from the stink and deteriorating environment, Horha has to deal with the vagaries of brokers, boat owners, increasing competition as more villagers enter the business, and diminishing schools of fish in the ocean. But Horha only has time to think of the profits of today's batch of boiled fish.
LIFE GOES ON
While one group gathers against nocturnal anchovy fishing and another tries to keep the trade going, there are those who remain in between, keeping to their daily routines. At Ban Lae, while many neighbours continue to protest at Laem Son on another side of Songkhla Bay, Manub Thongpong's family traps crabs. "I don't join either group," the fisherman said. "I have relatives in both groups."Manub understands why some of his relatives are against using electric lights to catch fish as he has seen the catches decline.
"We catch in kilos, they catch in tonnes," Manub said. "It is not just a problem of too many people."Some of Manub's relatives are also in the anchovy business. "I know some of them are happy with their business. I don't want to upset them by joining the Federation of Small Scale Fishermen. It takes a lot of investment to enter the dried anchovy business."It is also a highly-controlled business. Manub is aware that the villagers must pay the boat owners to bring the catches to their villages instead of others. Then they must sell their dried fish to the same boat owners or their brokers. Manub keeps life simple by sticking to coastal fishing.
"I just catch enough for our table," said Manub. "I don't want to belong to any group."
GOVERNMENT TREADS WATER
The ongoing protests have now caught the attention of the government.
After a meeting on June 28, the National Fisheries Policy Committee (NFPC) initiated a four-month study into the impact of night-time anchovy fishing. Meanwhile, artisan fishermen are unimpressed and continue to camp out at Laem Son On in Songkhla. They say that previous studies provide more than enough evidence.
"Even the Songkhla Fisheries Provincial Office announced that nocturnal anchovy fishing is devastating," said Mr Charoen. "But why does the Agriculture Ministry still allow it?" he added. Another government reaction is Agricultural Minister Pongpol Adireksan's scrapping of a 1996 ministerial announcement. This will become effective within the next four months, but only if the NFPC study clearly shows that nocturnal fishing for anchovies is devastating.
"The public may understand that Minister Pongpol has already scrapped permission to use less than 2.5 cm mesh nets and spotlights," said Mr Samreung Raket of Phangnga. He is a member of a network of small scale fishermen in Songkhla.
"But in truth, this action hasn't stopped destructive fishing gear from being used.
"The 1996 ministerial paper allowing fine-mesh nets and lights is widely believed to have been created by a politician whose background and power comes from the commercial fishing business," said Samreung.
INTERNATIONAL COMPLIANCE
Thailand signed the FAO Code of Conduct For Responsible Fisheries in 1995. The Code sets out principles and international standard responsible practices with a view to ensuring effective conservation, management and development of living aquatic resources, especially in relation to the ecosystem and biodiversity.
However, the question of why it hasn't come into effect yet is still pending an answer. When asked, Fisheries Department and FAO officials in Bangkok offered no comment.
"The issue is not about sharing benefits between the two groups, but about sustainable fishing," said Mr Reungchai Tansakul of the Biology Department, Prince of Songkhla University.
"How much do we really care about future generations if we still allow destructive fishing?" According to the FAO, short-term reductions of catches of 60% could be achieved if more selective fishing gear were used. Thai politicians play a vital role in deciding policy, especially if those in power push through their own plans regardless of how destructive they are, says Mr Reungchai.
Perhaps Mr Charoen and his friends will have to continue protesting until the Thai authorities better understand the issues and appreciate that these small-scale fishermen are not protesting for their own benefit but to safeguard future generations.
As Mr Charoen explained to his wife after a month of protest. "Although our money is gone, we can get it back. But if the fish go, they will never return."
Whose sea isit anyway?
Most commercial anchovy trawlers and even Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart cling to the same belief that everyone should be able to benefit from the sea.
The gathering of commercial anchovy fishing boats and downstream businesses reconfirmed this belief.
"The sea belongs to everyone, not just the fishermen," said a local villager.
Most fishermen and many anchovy trawlers are Muslim.
According to Muslim teaching, "the resources belong
to Allah, everyone has the right to use them but never to over exploit them and bring
trouble to others," said Hatyee Sa-ae Niyomdecha, a Muslim religious leader
at Ban Lae village of Songkhla. He said natural resources are given by God to everyone
but, "we have also a duty to conserve and maintain them."
© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1999
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