Mussel farmers told not to use tyres

Local

authorities are requesting mussel farmers stop using old motorbike tyres on collector lines along the seashore and remove any that are currently in use to help preserve the local environment.

There are an estimated 1 million tyres laid along the seashore in Phetchaburi’s Ban Laem district alone, Sitham Ratchakaeo, chief of Ban Laem district office, said on Monday as the first mussel farmers there began removing the polluting rubber from the sea.

Mr Sitham and provincial fisheries office chief Praphan Lipayakhun launched the clean-up campaign in the district, encouraging mussel farmers in tambon Ban Laem to abide by the ban.

Farmers are being asked to deliver the old tyres to H Phonnimitcharoen wharf in tambon Ban Laem. Most will be sent to an incinerator in Cha-am district.

Others will be buried at the site of a new sports ground at tambon Bang Kaeo in Ban Laem district, said Mr Praphan said.

The campaign will run in the district until July 20.

On Monday, about 100,000 tyres were collected from mussel farms and delivered to the wharf, said Mr Praphan.

Mr Sitham said farmers used old tyres on lines set to collect mussel larvae, or spat, at seashore farms despite the practice being banned due to its harmful impact.

But instead of threatening legal action, local authorities launched a campaign encouraging them to cooperate, he said.

If it proves successful, the seas will be cleaner and the law observed without any need for legal action, he added.

The move is part of a wider provincial effort to rehabilitate the Gulf of Thailand coastline.

Mussel farmers in Phetchaburi province haul old motorcycle tyres used illegally on their collector lines into their boats before taking them for proper disposal.