Floods refresh freshwater fish population; watch out for crocs

BANGKOK, Oct. 14 (TNA) - Thailand's worst flood season for many years has been bad news for just about everybody -- everybody, that is, except for the fish, and crocodiles, perhaps.

The kingdom's uninvited 'waterworld', extending from horizon to horizon in some parts of the country, is a boon to the denizens of the much-expanded freshwater waterways.

While Thai families who used to appreciate living 'beside' the Chao Phraya River, very few boast about living 'in' the river.

But for fish? Well, that's a different story. Major floods in Thailand are providing just the right environment and food for many varieties of freshwater fish to take a trip to new places and participate in increasing the (fish) population, a senior fisheries official said on Friday.

Fisheries Department chief Charanthada Kannasut said Thailand's floodwaters are rich with natural food and stimulate fish to reproduce in a large numbers.

The swollen Chao Praya River, which runs through Bangkok, has overflowed its banks and inundated farmlands and rice fields all along its normal course, an annual occurance that is in the nature of being a river.

In fact, it must be remembered that it is nature's way of ferilising and renewing the fields which provide the rice which Thai people eat on a daily basis.

"It also benefits the country's population of freshwater fish," Mr. Charanthada said. As an earlier monarch said, the fish that are to be found in the field provide a balance to the otherwise overly simple diet.

''Naturally, fish are stimulated to lay a lot of eggs during major flooding," the fisheries chief said, because there is plenty of food for them to feed on.''

He warned villagers against trapping fish during flooding by stopping floodwaters from receding into rivers. Such a method of trapping fish is illegal and would be dealt with by the law, he said.

A campaign to encourage local villagers to use 'friendly fishing methods' is on the way and a network of fish conservationists is planned at provincial and grassroot levels.

And crocodiles? Mr. Charanthada, however, appealed to villagers in flood-hit areas to notify the authorities if they see crocodiles on the loose, as the a number of the amphibian reptiles have reportedly escaped from captivity during the floods which hit Thailand's north, northeast and central region since August and have claimed 47 lives.

''It happens every year, whenever there's a flood. Their owners don't know how to keep them safety,'' he said, especially blaming illegal crocodile farms which have mushroomed in recent years.

Thai officials recently seized 200 crocodiles as they were being smuggled here from a neighbouring nation, he said.

TNA

I wouldn`t mind the extra fish, but as for crocs! :?

It appears that there are more on the loose now Geoff :?

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Crocodile alert as reptiles escape illegal farms in flood zones

BANGKOK, Oct 22 (TNA) – Thailand's Department of Fisheries Sunday warned that crocodiles bred in illegal reptile farms have been escaping from their confinement due to the floods encompassing much of the central provinces, and that the animals --unused to a natural environment -- may look for food in all the wrong places.

An undetermined number of crocodile farms, both legal and illegal, are located in the flood-ravaged central provinces, which have been battered by severe floods this year.

The escaped reptiles are likely to approach humans because they are used to being fed by farm raisers, according to Fisheries Department director-general Charanthada Kannasut.

The director-general suggested that villagers not walk or travel by boat in flooded areas at night in order to avoid from being attacked by hungry crocodiles.

The difficulty in seeing crocodiles, though, is that their nose and eyes are visible only slightly above water, he said. At night they might not be noticed at all.

Members of the public who see crocodiles at large should inform the authorities immediately, Mr. Charanthada advised.

Crocodiles raised by legal farms have been moved to safe areas from the floods which are now ravaging several of Thailand's central provinces but the public, especially residents living near waterways, should be on alert for crocodiles that have escaped from illegal reptile farms, Mr. Charanthada said.

Mr. Charanthada said that crocodiles from legal farms have been relocated and are now being kept in safe areas. Meanwhile, he warned, an undetermined number of crocodiles from unregistered crocodile farms have escaped from inundated farms and
are still roaming free in canals and rivers.

TNA

A group of Uthai Thani locals heads off to hunt crocodiles suspected of escaping from unregistered farms. One of the men is armed for encounters with the reptiles – some said to be as big as three-metres.