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[MisterMan]

This was taken at the Kata Market today




and this is how it is at the stall on most days:

By at 2012-05-05

Edited by MisterMan, 2012-05-05 16:42:06.

[stevenl]

fuc_k.

[MisterMan]

do you have the contact for Niphon at PMBC? Also I think should be circulated to Shark NGO. There are 2 fish venders and I buy sardines for my cat and the one lady does not have shark but sometimes does not have small fish but I wont buy from the shark lady and she asked me why but I just could not explain.  One day my regular fish lady had shark.. I just told her today no.. She knows I wont buy but I can not explain in Thai why I wont buy! I am happy to pay myself to have some info translated as i have a good cheap translator I use for some things. Someone please help me help the enviromnet.

EVERY time I have gone the lady has baby white tips and more. Daily decimation. WHO THE FCK eats BABY SHARKS?
Do get those rays of course this is from trawling.. urg. I can only take so much. StevenNL Ideas? Please forward onwards! full permission to use my photos.. PM If you want copies.. etc.

[MisterMan]

Normally just a hand full of baby white tips that will never grow up and reproduce..


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Edited by MisterMan, 2012-05-05 16:56:39.

[limbos]

Happens in most if not all seaport town markets around Thailand. I have similar pictures from markets on Koh Samui, where I live.

[NomadJoe]

I have never seen hammerheads in Thai waters or at a market here before. Has anyone else? These are scalloped hammerheads and they are endangered. http://www.iucnredli...details/39385/0  This is outrageous and unacceptable. I will definitely be passing this info on to a few places.

I remember 10 years ago how diving around Phi Phi one would encounter numerous nurse sharks and bamboo sharks sleeping under rocks and outcroppings. Now it is very rare. One place you could always find them is on ice in front of the restaurants on Phi Phi. The blue spotted stingrays (Kuhls rays) I used to see in great numbers off Kata Beach are also gone. Quite often I would see them caught on a line and being collected later by fisherman. So sad.


.

Edited by NomadJoe, 2012-05-08 19:47:00.

[limbos]

 Hammerheads Samui Laem Din sept 05.jpg   169.92K   6 downloads

How about this, Laem Din market, Koh Samui, September 2005.

My wife is from Samui and she claims that she has seen hammerheads on a regular base over the years on Samui markets.

[NomadJoe]

That's pretty horrible.Those have been finned and the rest thrown out. A evil tradition that shark fin soup. I still see it for sale around Thailand, including  Phuket.

[limbos]

Nomad Joe, they were finned alright, but actually sitting next to a lady who was about to turn them into a shark curry.

[MisterMan]

So how are they getting these babies that are usually under rocks and who the fck  eats baby sharks? I grant full permission to use my photos!

[NomadJoe]

MisterMan, on 2012-05-10 00:52:48, said:

So how are they getting these babies that are usually under rocks and who the fck  eats baby sharks? I grant full permission to use my photos!

As for the hammerheads they are likely killed though the practice of drag netting, a practice that is extremely destructive to our oceans. (We often see these nets entangling our favorite local dive sites.) Some sharks, like hammerheads, are obligate ram breathers i.e. they must remain swimming or they will "drown". Pups are born live 12-40 to a litter and huddle together after birth for some time. This means that if you see one or two pups for sale at market, their siblings likely met the same demise.

Other sharks, like the bamboo and nurse along with most others, can breath via baccal pumping, i.e. they have the ability to force water through their gills without swimming. Thus during the day we see these sharks resting under rocks and outcroppings as they are nocturnal hunters. When they come out to hunt at night it can make them susceptible to fishing activities. I have a different theory. After the bamboo and nurses disappeared from Phi Phi,  I surmised that an enterprising Thai divemaster, once learning the regular spots which the sharks could be found, sometimes 2 or 3 to a hole, decided to cash in. They are so docile you could literally swim up to them and grab them.


This thread, IMO, belongs in the Phuket forum. It is not related to diving other than divers probably having a greater interest than most.

Edited by NomadJoe, 2012-05-10 02:11:32.

[limbos]

Can you explain why this would have to be in the Phuket forum, these practices and caught sharks can be found all over Thai markets that are located near oceans and I contributed pictures from Koh Samui and can produce a few more if needed.

If it would be moved at all, I would suggest the general forum rather than a specific 'location' forum.

[NomadJoe]

limbos, on 2012-05-10 05:38:13, said:

Can you explain why this would have to be in the Phuket forum, these practices and caught sharks can be found all over Thai markets that are located near oceans and I contributed pictures from Koh Samui and can produce a few more if needed.

If it would be moved at all, I would suggest the general forum rather than a specific 'location' forum.

General is fine too. My point really was that it didn't really deserve to be in teh diving section which gets very few visitors. If the goal is to get people involved locally that live in proximity to where this very recent picture was taken then the local forum is more likely to do that IMHO. I rarely visit the general forum. You could always start another thread in the Samui forum.

Edited by NomadJoe, 2012-05-10 17:36:19.

[phomsanuk]

Nothing like fresh fish

[stevenl]

NomadJoe, on 2012-05-10 01:58:04, said:

I have a different theory. After the bamboo and nurses disappeared from Phi Phi,  I surmised that an enterprising Thai divemaster, once learning the regular spots which the sharks could be found, sometimes 2 or 3 to a hole, decided to cash in. They are so docile you could literally swim up to them and grab them.

I am convinced the same thing is happening on occasion to e.g. seahorses, except that they go to aquariums.

[NomadJoe]

stevenl, on 2012-05-10 20:04:45, said:

NomadJoe, on 2012-05-10 01:58:04, said:

I have a different theory. After the bamboo and nurses disappeared from Phi Phi,  I surmised that an enterprising Thai divemaster, once learning the regular spots which the sharks could be found, sometimes 2 or 3 to a hole, decided to cash in. They are so docile you could literally swim up to them and grab them.

I am convinced the same thing is happening on occasion to e.g. seahorses, except that they go to aquariums.

Yes I have thought the same, but instead of aquariums, sold on the black market.  (perhaps that is what you meant) There has been more than one incident of this kind of smuggling of tropical reef fish which originated from the waters around Phuket. Remember last year the poacher that crashed into and killed a motorcyclist?  He had 30 seahorses! No way to collect that many without inside help. (Story at PW, couldn't find it at PG)

2010: http://www.phuketgaz...=fish smuggling
2009: http://www.phuketgaz...marine species.
1999:http://www.phuketgaz...marine species.

"Mr Paitoon (of PMBC) said there are still 28 fishing boats operating illegally in the waters off Phuket collecting aquarium fish and transporting them to Bangkok, where there is still high demand for them by aquarium supply stores."

I sent out a few emails but have nothing back yet. Will probably try to make some calls.  I would like to know what the official position is on these hammerheads. Just because they are seen at markets all around Thailand doesn't make it right or mean it's legal.

Edited by NomadJoe, 2012-05-10 20:33:23.

[khun_j]

outrageous

i would have loved to see one of them alive under water

thanks for reporting this!

[MisterMan]

I posted in diving where people have a passion for the environment. Hopefully will make it into one of the local rags too.
Yesterday was a baby blue spotted sting ray. So obvious from trolling. If you have some info in English I will happy pay out of pocket to have it translated and distribute it. I have a great cheap educated translator in BKK but again the issue is not the lady at the market selling.. (but who the frick buys baby sharks?) but the fisherman.... urg.
and the fishing practice. how to stop this rape? Nomad nice to see you .on the forum and appreciate the support .

[limbos]

Baby black tips at the Plai Laem market on Koh Samui, near the Seatran pier in Bang Rak, April 2011. This market has some unusual species for sale at times.

 Baby blacktips Plai Laem market.JPG   131.2K   3 downloads