Two skippers facing legal actions

PHUKET, May 19 (TNA) -- Skippers of two fishing boats are now confronting legal actions on charges of catching a whale shark which is a protected animal in Thailand, said Adisorn Promthep, director-general of Fisheries Department. 55-year-old Somsamai Meejom, captain of Sang Samut 3 fishing boat, and Rattana Prom-ngarm, skipper of Sang Samut 2 fishing trawler, have been accused of illegally catching whale shark off Phuket province in the Andaman Sea. Officials said Mr Somsamai had told them after anchoring at about 10pm on Friday that his boat had joined forces with the Sang Samut 2 in catching marine lives in the Andaman Sea. Fishing authorities have charged both of them on catching protected or nearly extinct animals in Thailand. Mr Adisorn said if found guilty, the owners would face a maximum of three million baht fine or five times in value of the caught marine animal, depending on which value is higher, while licences of the fishing boats will be revoked permanently. Video of a pregnant whale shark caught by fishermen has gone viral and caused outrage on social media on Friday. The video clip shows a whale shark being hung on the side of a fishing boat in the Andaman sea. The fishing boat crew were helping to sort out ropes from the dead whale shark. (TNA)