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Thai Government steps up the protection of dolphins
MCOT.org
6th November 2004
BANGKOK – The government has stepped up measures to stop local villagers from hunting dolphins for meat, according to a senior marine official.
Fishing boats suspected of being used to hunt dolphins along provincial coastlines will be rigorously monitored, the head of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Maitri Duangsawasdi, told TNA on Friday.
Recently the media had reported that dolphin meat was on sale in Thailand's southern provinces of Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chumphon, Mr Maitri said.
Samples of food, suspected to be dolphin curry, have been sent for laboratory tests, he added.
Part of the dolphin meat on sale on the markets had been taken from the carcasses of the dead mammals, accidentally killed when they got tangled in fishermen’s nets.
The department’s emergency centre, located in Chumphon, receives monthly reports on dolphins or whales dying on the beach in Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, or Surat Thani, Mr. Maitri said. (TNA)--E008
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