Navy divers have removed a discarded fishing net that had blanketed a large area of coral reef off the Pattani coast and replanted the worst-affected area with young coral polyps, the Royal Thai Navy announced yesterday.
Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre spokesman, Rear Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin, said the net covered an area of around 2.75 square kilometres around Koh Losin. He noted severe damage had been inflicted on 500 square metres of coral reef.
While most of the damage observed was coral bleaching, there was also broken coral and notable damage to the habitat of maritime creatures, he said.
Koh Losin is an uninhabited islet located about 70 kilometres off the coast of Panare district in Pattani.
Last week, divers visiting the islet found the reef there covered by the fishing net.
Forty-two divers from the navy, Marine and Coastal Resources Department, and volunteer groups began a two-day mission to remove the net and assess and repair the damage on Saturday.
They left the islet on Sunday night and returned to Songkhla naval base yesterday morning.
Department director-general Sopon Thongdee said 500 patches of reef had been replanted under the rehabilitation programme. A complaint would soon be filed with Pattani police, to identify the trawler that discarded the net.
Rr Adm Pokkrong said the net will be examined and all fishing boats which had passed Koh Losin since the beginning of the month could be subject to an investigation.
Koh Losin is off-limits to trawlers. Violators are liable to fines of up to 100,000 baht and/or a year's imprisonment under fishing laws. Causing damage to coral reefs carries penalties of up to 1 million baht and/or 10 years in prison under the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act.
