Thailand closes off two more islands to tourists to protect coral reefs

Less than 2 weeks ago, the Thai government closed Koh Tachai island indefinitely. On Wednesday, the government chose to ban all tourist activities at three more islands: Koh Khai Nok, Koh Khai Nui, and Koh Khai Nai.

All three of the islands are just off the coast of the popular tourist destination Phuket. The Thai Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DCMR) claims that natural resources around the islands are fast being depleted as tourism has increased. Regional chief of the DCMR, Watcharin Na Thalang, at a meeting with tour operators and guides on Tuesday, said that coral damage is being caused by the coral bleaching process. He said that although the process occurs naturally, human activity accelerates it. At present, up to 60 speedboats visit the three islands each day with tourists staying up to 3 hours snorkelling and engaging in other activities in the water. Already, tourist facilities are being removed from the islands and shortly shops and restaurants will be vacated.

When Koh Tachai was closed, it was announced it was due to excessive tourism. The shoreline, beaches, and coral reef, will be off-limits to all visitors beginning next October 15. However, all Thai marine national parks are already closed during the monsoon season until October 15, so in effect the island is closed now. Koh Tachai is part of Similan National Park. The closure is part of a resource management plan throughout the Andaman Sea.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, deputy dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University told a Thai newspaper:

"A beach on the island can hold up to 70 people. But sometimes the number of tourists was well over 1,000 on the beach. If it's not closed now, we'll lose Koh Tachai permanently."

Phuket is a southern province in Thailand. The province consists of the main island of Phuket, and 32 smaller islands. The province is off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Phuket island is the largest in Thailand. There is a bridge from the island to the mainland. On Boxing Day of December 2004, a tsunami caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean killed up to 250 people in Phuket but that does not include almost 1,000 illegal Burmese workers who were building new beach resorts. By February 2005 many damaged businesses were up and running again. Now almost no tsunami damage is visible except on remote beaches. It is not clear yet how much damage banning tourists from several of the smaller islands will cause to the local tourist industry.

Octopuses multiply while fisheries collapse, and coral reefs bleach

As many coral reefs are withering causing a loss of habitat for many fish, and as some fisheries virtually collapse, octopuses and other cephalopods are thriving.

There are about 800 living species of cephalopods including squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish. All live in salt water. Some fishermen call them "inkfish" as most of them can eject what looks like ink as a means to hide themselves. An analysis just published in Current Biology shows that numerous cephalopod species have increased their numbers since 1950.

The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia. Zoe Doubleday, the lead author said: “The consistency was the biggest surprise. Cephalopods are notoriously variable, and population abundance can fluctuate wildly, both within and among species. Cephalopods tend to boom and bust—they’re called the weeds of the sea.”Ironically the Australian study was begun after researchers were investigating a sudden crash in the population of the giant Australian cuttlefish.

The researchers are not certain exactly why many cephalopod species are doing so well but they can point to a number of factors that could contribute to the increase. They note that when environmental conditions are favorable, the cehalopod numbers can increase very rapidly. One of the main controls on cephalopods are predatory fish many of which are being eaten by humans. Global warming may also be a factor. Doubleday said that she did not think that there was just one single factor causing the increase in cephalopod numbers. The Adelaide study showed evidence of an increase in cephalopod numbers both in scientific data, and also fisheries records. Most species live only a year or two, dying after they give birth. They grow very quickly. They are also voracious eaters with some species eating 30 per cent of their body weight each day as adults.

Paul Rodhouse, a biological oceanographer with the British Antarcic Survey in Cambridge UK said:“This is not a sensational ‘cephalopods are taking over the world’s oceans’ story.” Further climate change could have unpredictable effects, squeezing generation times to less than a year and throwing off some species’ annual mating gatherings in the process.There is evidence that there is increasing acidification of oceans. This could impair development of some cephalopods. As many species of fish become less available for eating, humans may come to eat more squid and octopuses. If cephalopods increase too much in an area they simply may run out of food. They are also cannibalistic which also helps areas becoming too overcrowded with them. As Doubleday puts it: “There’s always competition stabilizing things. I don’t know whether we’ll eat them first or they’ll start eating each other.”