Metavee Chuangcharoendee
Who I am
I am an early-career Thai marine biologist with a deep passion for shark conservation. I earned my degree in marine biology and ecology from James Cook University in Australia, where I also volunteered with the Global FinPrint project. My previous role at the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources involved working in the Marine Protected Area Management Sub-division, focusing on marine protected areas and marine spatial planning. In addition, I played a key role in assessing the Ocean Health Index for Thailand, which required close collaboration with various departments due to the comprehensive nature of the data needed. Although I transitioned away from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to fully pursue my passion for shark conservation, I continue to assess the Ocean Health Index for Thailand as a side project. My interest in sharks led me to manage the Maya Shark Watch Project in partnership with the Department of National Parks. Following this, I was honoured to be approached by WildAid Thailand to manage the StAR Project Thailand, where we combine conservation, communication and research to promote shark protection.
Where I work
I am based in Bangkok, but frequently travel for work to the Andaman Islands. Thailand has experienced a drastic decline in shark populations due to overfishing, non-selective fishing gear and habitat destruction. Statistics from the Department of Fisheries show a 90% decrease in shark landings over the past two decades, highlighting the urgent need for improved conservation and management. Although Thailand has protected species like the whale shark and several rays, with recent additions in May 2024 including the Indo-Pacific leopard shark and hammerhead sharks, research on many other elasmobranch species remains limited and more effort is needed to better understand and protect them.
What I do
One of my key responsibilities, the Maya Shark Watch Project, is a collaboration with the Marine National Park Operation Center 3, Department of National Parks. It focuses on monitoring blacktip reef sharks in Maya Bay, Phi Phi Leh Island, a site made famous by the movie The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. However, overtourism led to the bay’s closure in 2018 to allow ecological recovery, during which sharks began returning. This led to our preliminary study, which revealed that the bay serves as a nursery for newborn sharks. Since its 2022 reopening with stricter regulations, including a swimming ban and a limit on the number of visitors, our BRUV and drone surveys have documented new shark recruitment, signalling positive population recovery. However, more data from surrounding areas are needed to expand shark conservation efforts beyond Maya Bay.
Another project I am working on is the Stegostoma tigrinum Augmentation and Recovery (StAR) Project in Thailand, under WildAid Thailand and in collaboration with Ocean Blue Tree and ReShark. The StAR Project Thailand focuses on rewilding the endangered Indo-Pacific leopard shark by collecting photo identification data through the citizen science initiative ‘Spot the Leopard Shark’ to conduct population viability analyses. Once we determine the need for population recovery and the appropriate number of sharks to release, we plan to build hatcheries and raise and acclimatise the sharks before releasing them back into the wild to help restore populations in key marine areas.
An ongoing project from my time at the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources involves data cleaning and analysis using the R statistical tool to assess the Ocean Health Index. This assessment is presented to the government as an indicator for prioritising various aspects of marine management.