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Luke Duggleby

Photographer

www.lukeduggleby.com

Emptying the Seas

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Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Nationality: British

Biography: Luke Duggleby is an award-winning British freelance photographer who has been based in Bangkok, Thailand, for more than 15 years. Focusing on Asia, he has worked for some of the most globally respected media publications and NGO's producing... MORE

A Burmese fisherman takes a qui...ean. Gulf of Thailand, Thailand

1 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

A Burmese fisherman takes a quick nap before starting work on a fishing net as the boat leaves for the open ocean.

Gulf of Thailand, Thailand

The Gulf of Thailand at dawn se...urns to shore. Rayong, Thailand

2 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

The Gulf of Thailand at dawn seen from a fishing trawler as it returns to shore.

Rayong, Thailand

Thai workers pull tuna into net... market. Samut Prakan, Thailand

3 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Thai workers pull tuna into nets in the hold, where the temperature is minus 22 degrees Celsius. The large ship is docked just outside Bangkok and will spend one week unloading hundres of tonnes of tuna. Each frozen skipjack carcass weighs about 40 kilograms (88 pounds); one ton of skipjack fetches about $1,600 on the wholesale market.

Samut Prakan, Thailand

Cambodian fishermen empty a lar...ecent years. Chonburi, Thailand

4 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Cambodian fishermen empty a large trawler net that has been dragged all night catching everything in its path. A 3 kilometer nursery zone exists around the whole coastal region of Thailand, but this is often ignored as punishments are lenient and as a result the catches have more than halved in recent years.

Chonburi, Thailand

Thai fishing trawler boats leav...orning. Phuket Island, Thailand

5 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Thai fishing trawler boats leave for the ocean in the late afternoon and will return the following morning.

Phuket Island, Thailand

Middle men, vendors and buyers ...ic.  Tanji, The Gambia

6 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Middle men, vendors and buyers all congregate at Gambia's largest fish market of Tanji every morning and afternoon after small African pirogues bring fish back to shore from the Atlantic.

Tanji, The Gambia

Burmese fishermen set off for a...stocks. Phuket Island, Thailand

7 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Burmese fishermen set off for a night on a Thai fishing trawler. Thailand is the third largest exporter of fish in the world after China and the US. Its fishing fleet is vast, but years of unregulated trawling has causes incredible damage to fish stocks.

Phuket Island, Thailand

Tonnes of fish are unloaded fro...ts of the city. Yangon, Myanmar

8 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Tonnes of fish are unloaded from boats, sold, packaged then reloaded on to trucks for distribution everyday at Yangon's largest fish market on the outskirts of the city.

Yangon, Myanmar

Men carrying fish in basin&...l fishermen. Tanji, The Gambia

9 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Men carrying fish in basin's on their heads bring todays catch to the beach at Tanji's fish market. Every morning and afternoon African pirogues bring fish back to shore from the Atlantic. The fish are then immediately bought by customers and middle-men creating chaotic scenes involving hundreds of people.
But trawling by large foreign vessels of The Gamboia's coast has lead to a reduced catch for these local fishermen.

Tanji, The Gambia

Cambodian fishermen sort out th...ecent years. Chonburi, Thailand

10 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Cambodian fishermen sort out the catch as the trawler boat races to shore after a night of dragging the net. He holds one of the few fish caught, the majority of the catch were very small fish.

A 3 kilometer nursery zone exists around the whole coastal region of Thailand, but this is often ignored as punishments are lenient and as a result the catches have more than halved in recent years.

Chonburi, Thailand

A husband and wife team selling...ts of the city. Yangon, Myanmar

11 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

A husband and wife team selling recently caught fish rest above todays catch at Yangon's largest fish market on the outskirts of the city.

Yangon, Myanmar

Men pulling carts ladden with i...ts of the city. Yangon, Myanmar

12 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Men pulling carts ladden with ice, carrying boxes of fish and shouting out prices all leads to chaotic scenes at Yangon's largest fish market on the outskirts of the city.

Yangon, Myanmar

Burmese fishermen working all n...ll in the net. Gulf of Thailand

13 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Burmese fishermen working all night on a Thai fishing trawler boat off the coast of Phuket pull in the net.

Gulf of Thailand

A catch of large sail fish is b... fishing port. Phuket, Thailand

14 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

A catch of large sail fish is being unloaded from a Thai fishing trawler by Burmese fishermen at Phuket's main fishing port.

Phuket, Thailand

A local man hangs fish on long ...r its dried fish. Dahanu, India

15 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

A local man hangs fish on long racks to dry them in the sun. This area on India's west coast is famous for its dried fish.

Dahanu, India

Fish are unloaded from large Th... main harbour. Phuket, Thailand

16 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Fish are unloaded from large Thai fishing trawlers and sorted ready to be sold at Phukets main harbour.

Phuket, Thailand

A Cambodian fishermen sorts the...fish stocks. Chonburi, Thailand

17 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

A Cambodian fishermen sorts the net, clinging on to the side of this Thai trawler boat as it ploughs through the darkness. Thailand is the third largest exporter of fish in the world after China and the US. Its fishing fleet is vast, but years of unregulated trawling has causes incredible damage to fish stocks.

Chonburi, Thailand

A large fishing trawler unloads...y depleted. Silapacha, Thailand

18 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

A large fishing trawler unloads is catch caught the night before. This ammount of fish comes from just one boat and with tens of thousands of boats the Gulf of Thailand's fish stocks have been seriously depleted.

Silapacha, Thailand

Behind Gambia's largest...n for months. Tanji, The Gambia

19 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Behind Gambia's largest fish market at Tanji is a collection of fish smoking buildings. For centuries fish have been smoked here and either sold domestically or exported to other parts of North Africa, particularly Nigeria. Caught in the Atlantic, the fish are smoked for days after which they can be kept without refrigeration for months.

Tanji, The Gambia

Not only fish are caught by net... to tourists, Phuket, Thailand

20 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Not only fish are caught by net dragging trawlers but also shells. This man came to purchase the shells caught up in the nets of a Thai trawler to sell as souvenirs to tourists,

Phuket, Thailand

On the beach at Tanji is Gambia...ds of people. Tanji, The Gambia

21 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

On the beach at Tanji is Gambia's largest fish market. Every morning and afternoon African pirogues bring fish back to shore from the Atlantic. The fish are then immediately bought by customers and middle-men creating chaotic scenes involving hundreds of people.

Tanji, The Gambia

An Indian women prepares shrimp...#39;s west coast. Dahanu, India

22 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

An Indian women prepares shrimp to dry in the sun in a remote fishing community of India's west coast.

Dahanu, India

The portrait of a Cambodian fis...ght trawler. Chonburi, Thailand

23 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

The portrait of a Cambodian fisherman on a night trawler.

Chonburi, Thailand

Burmese fishermen working all n... recent years. Gulf of Thailand

24 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Burmese fishermen working all night on a Thai trawler boat off the coast of Phuket. Thailand is the third largest exporter of fish in the world after China and the US. Its fishing fleet is vast, but years of unregulated trawling has causes incredible damage to fish stocks.

A 3 kilometer nursery zone exists around the whole coastal region, but this is often ignored as punishments are lenient. Most fishing is done at night when trawlers, varying in size, leave for the darkness of the sea returning in the morning with their catch that in many cases has more than halved in recent years.

Gulf of Thailand

Behind Gambia's largest...n for months. Tanji, The Gambia

25 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Behind Gambia's largest fish market at Tanji is a collection of fish smoking buildings. For centuries fish have been smoked here and either sold domestically or exported to other parts of North Africa, particularly Nigeria. Caught in the Atlantic, the fish are smoked for days after which they can be kept without refrigeration for months.

Tanji, The Gambia

Thai workers pull tuna into net... market. Samut Prakan, Thailand

26 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Thai workers pull tuna into nets in the hold, where the temperature is minus 22 degrees Celsius. The large ship is docked just outside Bangkok and will spend one week unloading hundres of tonnes of tuna. Each frozen skipjack carcass weighs about 40 kilograms (88 pounds); one ton of skipjack fetches about $1,600 on the wholesale market.

Samut Prakan, Thailand

Cambodian fishermen sleep as th... out at sea. Ang Sila, Thailand

27 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

Cambodian fishermen sleep as the trawler boat returns to the shore at dawn after a night out at sea.

Ang Sila, Thailand

A Cambodian fisherman stands on... open ocean. Chonburi, Thailand

28 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

A Cambodian fisherman stands on the side of his boat as it returns to harbour after a night in the open ocean.

Chonburi, Thailand

In the Gulf of Thailand a Thai ...he net. Phuket Island, Thailand

29 of 29 © 2024 Luke Duggleby

In the Gulf of Thailand a Thai fishing trawler uses lights to attract a certain type of fish to the surface before dropping the net.

Phuket Island, Thailand

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Thumbnail of A Burmese fisherman takes a quic_cean. Gulf of Thailand, Thailand

Thumbnail of The Gulf of Thailand at dawn see_turns to shore. Rayong, Thailand

Thumbnail of Thai workers pull tuna into nets_e market. Samut Prakan, Thailand

Thumbnail of Cambodian fishermen empty a larg_recent years. Chonburi, Thailand

Thumbnail of Thai fishing trawler boats leave_morning. Phuket Island, Thailand

Thumbnail of Middle men, vendors and buyers a_tic.  Tanji, The Gambia

Thumbnail of Burmese fishermen set off for a _ stocks. Phuket Island, Thailand

Thumbnail of Tonnes of fish are unloaded from_rts of the city. Yangon, Myanmar

Thumbnail of Men carrying fish in basin&#_al fishermen. Tanji, The Gambia

Thumbnail of Cambodian fishermen sort out the_recent years. Chonburi, Thailand

Thumbnail of A husband and wife team selling _rts of the city. Yangon, Myanmar

Thumbnail of Men pulling carts ladden with ic_rts of the city. Yangon, Myanmar

Thumbnail of Burmese fishermen working all ni_ull in the net. Gulf of Thailand

Thumbnail of A catch of large sail fish is be_n fishing port. Phuket, Thailand

Thumbnail of A local man hangs fish on long r_or its dried fish. Dahanu, India

Thumbnail of Fish are unloaded from large Tha_s main harbour. Phuket, Thailand

Thumbnail of A Cambodian fishermen sorts the _ fish stocks. Chonburi, Thailand

Thumbnail of A large fishing trawler unloads _ly depleted. Silapacha, Thailand

Thumbnail of Behind Gambia's largest _on for months. Tanji, The Gambia

Thumbnail of Not only fish are caught by net _s to tourists, Phuket, Thailand

Thumbnail of On the beach at Tanji is Gambia&_eds of people. Tanji, The Gambia

Thumbnail of An Indian women prepares shrimp _;#39;s west coast. Dahanu, India

Thumbnail of The portrait of a Cambodian fish_ight trawler. Chonburi, Thailand

Thumbnail of Burmese fishermen working all ni_n recent years. Gulf of Thailand

Thumbnail of Behind Gambia's largest _on for months. Tanji, The Gambia

Thumbnail of Thai workers pull tuna into nets_e market. Samut Prakan, Thailand

Thumbnail of Cambodian fishermen sleep as the_t out at sea. Ang Sila, Thailand

Thumbnail of A Cambodian fisherman stands on _e open ocean. Chonburi, Thailand

Thumbnail of In the Gulf of Thailand a Thai f_the net. Phuket Island, Thailand

Private Story

Emptying the Seas

Copyright Luke Duggleby 2024

Date of Work May 2015 - Ongoing

Updated Mar 2018

Topics Abundance, Agriculture, Animals, Capitalism, Climate Change, Community, Conservation, Corruption, Documentary, Editorial, Environment, Fishing, Food, Globalization, Photography, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Reporting, Wildlife

Marine ecologists and conservationists believe that the biggest single threat to marine ecosystems today is overfishing. Our appetite for fish is exceeding the oceans’ ecological limits with devastating impacts on marine ecosystems. Scientists are warning that overfishing results in profound changes in our oceans, perhaps changing them forever. Whilst thousands of boats legally empty the seas of fish thousands more illegally do the same. It is a problem that is a global issue but one that is exceedingly hard to remedy.

But not only is sea life that is at risk but also communities that have relied on fishing for centuries. These communities often fish in a sustainable way but are unable to compete and survive against larger and more technologically advanced boats that extract fish at a shocking rate. Not only is it an ecological issue but also one that is leading to the vanishing of traditions and livelihoods. Will humans be able to change their eating habits before it is too late to allow the oceans to regenerate?

Over the years I have photographed both sides of this coin, the trawlers hauling tonnes at a time and the communities that survive from them. This portfolio is a collection of those images taken in Africa and Asia.

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