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THAILAND: On Thailand's Eastern seaboard, crab populations are being replenished with the help of a novel idea.
Blue swimmer crabs were once plentiful in the Gulf of Thailand. But their numbers dwindled as overfishing took its toll. Fisherman could no longer make as much money, while crabs became too pricey for locals to eat.
Enter the crab condominium where small plastic boxes are designed to shelter pregnant crabs.
Before using this technique, fishermen were only catching about 2 kilogrammes of crab per day and that has gone up about five times now.
This idea was the brainchild of a local fisherman. He thought of it while looking back at the shore.
Khak Silapachai, fisherman and inventor, said: "Foreigners live in condominiums here. So I thought if humans can live in condominiums, why not crabs? So the local governor and I came up with the idea of an underwater crab condominium.
"I didn't expect it to get so famous. I just wanted to do something useful. But maybe it's catching on because of the catchy name - crab condominium."
Each female crab has between 300,000 to 500,000 eggs. Without the protection of the crab condo, only one per cent of those eggs would survive.
Each condo houses over 350 crabs, which give birth to an estimated 2,000 baby crabs about every two months. The crabs are monitored and released into the sea when their eggs are mature.
It is part of a regional project spearheaded by the United Nations Development Programme to protect Asia's seas.
Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, said: "I think it's very exciting. For us, the importance is to see a good idea become more popular."
So far, the project has taken hold in over 25 nearby communities.
Bigger catches to export, higher wages for fishermen and lower crab prices are a few good reasons not to feel crabby. - CNA/vm
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