Editing Andaman Sea (section)

==Human activities==
The sea has long been used for fishing and transportation of goods between the coastal countries.

===Fishing===
Thailand alone harvested about {{convert|943,000|t|lb|abbr=on}} of fish in 2005 and about {{convert|710,000|t|lb|abbr=on}} in 2000.<ref>{{cite book |title=Review of Fisheries in OECD Countries: Policies and Summary Statistics 2005 |date=20 December 2005 |publisher=OECD Publishing |location=Paris |isbn=978-92-64-00904-2 |page=403 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_v8wAEACAAJ |access-date=31 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Of those {{convert|710,000|t|lb|abbr=on}}, {{convert|490,000|t|lb|abbr=on}} are accounted for by [[trawling]] (1,017 vessels), {{convert|184,000|t|lb|abbr=on}} by [[Seine fishing|purse seine]] (415 vessels), and about {{convert|30,000|t|lb|abbr=on}} by [[gillnet]]s. Of Thailand's total marine catch, 41% is caught in the [[Gulf of Thailand]] and 19% in the Andaman Sea. 40% is caught in waters outside Thailand's [[EEZ]].<ref name=GP-2012>{{cite book|title=Oceans in the Balance, Thailand in Focus|date=c. 2012|publisher=Greenpeace Southeast Asia (Thailand)|location=Bangkok|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/PageFiles/536808/english-singlePages.pdf|access-date=11 July 2017|archive-date=22 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922104018/http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/PageFiles/536808/english-singlePages.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Production numbers are significantly smaller for Malaysia and are comparable, or higher, for Myanmar.<ref>{{cite book |last1=De Young |first1=Cassandra |title=Review of the state of world marine capture fisheries management : Indian Ocean |date=2006 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |location=Rome |isbn=978-92-5-105499-4 |pages=39, 178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7JD1V3PijUC&pg=PA178 |access-date=31 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Competition for fish resulted in numerous conflicts between Myanmar and Thailand. In 1998 and 1999, they resulted in fatalities on both sides and nearly escalated into a military conflict. In both cases, the Thai navy intervened when Burmese vessels tried to intercept Thai fishing boats in the contested sea areas, and Thai fighter aircraft were thought to be deployed by the National Security Council. Thai fishing boats were also frequently confronted by the Malaysian navy to the extent that the Thai government had to caution its own fishers against fishing without license in foreign waters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dupont |first1=Alan |title=East Asia Imperilled: Transnational Challenges to Security |date=15 October 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-01015-3 |pages=103–105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGaINo0FofcC&pg=PA103 |access-date=31 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

The 2004 marine production in Thailand was composed of: [[pelagic fish]] 33 percent, [[demersal fish]] 18 percent, [[cephalopod]] 7.5 percent, crustaceans 4.5 percent, trash fish 30 percent and others 7 percent.<ref name=Panjarat />{{RP|12}} Trash fish refers to non-edible species, edible species of low commercial value and juveniles, which are released to the sea.<ref name=Panjarat />{{RP|16}} Pelagic fishes were distributed between anchovies (''Stolephorus'' spp., 19 percent), Indo-Pacific mackerel (''[[Rastrelliger]] brachysoma'', 18 percent), [[sardinella]]s (''Sardinellars'' spp., 14 percent), [[Decapterus|scad]] (11 percent), longtail tuna (''[[Thunnus tonggol]]'', 9 percent), eastern little tuna (''Euthynnus affinis'', 6 percent), [[Carangidae|trevallies]] (6 percent), [[bigeye scad]] (5 percent), [[Indian mackerel]] (''Rastrelliger kanagurta'', 4 percent), [[king mackerel]] (''Scomberomorus cavalla'', 3 percent), [[torpedo scad]] (''Megalaspis cordyla '', 2 percent), [[wolf herring]]s (1 percent), and others (2 percent).<ref name=Panjarat />{{RP|13}} Demersal fish production was dominated by [[Priacanthidae|purple-spotted bigeye]] (''Priacanthus tayenus''), [[threadfin bream]] (''Nemipterus hexodon''), [[brushtooth lizardfish]] (''Saurida undosquamis''), [[slender lizardfish]] (''Saurida elongata'') and Jinga shrimp (''Metapenaeus affinis''). Most species are [[overfished]] since the 1970s–1990s, except for [[Scomberomorus commerson|Spanish mackerel]] (''Scomberomorus commersoni''), [[carangidae]] and [[torpedo scad]] (''Meggalaspis'' spp.). The overall [[overfishing]] rate was 333 percent for pelagic and 245 percent for demersal species in 1991.<ref name=Panjarat />{{RP|14}} Cephalopods are divided into squid, [[cuttlefish]] and molluscs, where squid and cuttlefish in Thai waters consists of 10 families, 17 genera and over 30 species. The main mollusk species captured in the Andaman Sea are [[scallop]], [[blood cockle]] (''Anadara granosa'') and short-necked clam. Their collection requires bottom dredge gears, which damage the sea floor and the gears themselves and are becoming unpopular. So, the mollusk production has decreased from {{convert|27,374|t|lb|abbr=on}} in 1999 to 318 tonnes in 2004. While crustaceans composed only 4.5 percent of the total marine products in 2004 by volume, they accounted for 21 percent of the total value. They were dominated by [[Indian prawn|banana prawn]], [[Penaeus monodon|tiger prawn]], king prawn, school prawn, bay lobster (''[[Thenus orientalis]]''), mantis shrimp, swimming crabs and [[Scylla paramamosain|mud crabs]]. The total catch in 2004 was {{convert|51,607|t|lb|abbr=on}} for squid and cuttlefish and {{convert|36,071|t|lb|abbr=}} for crustaceans.<ref name=Panjarat />{{RP|18–19}}

===Mineral resources===
[[File:Andaman Sea, Andaman Islands.jpg|thumb|right|Andaman Sea off [[Havelock Island]]]]
The sea's mineral resources include [[tin]] deposits off the coasts of Malaysia and Thailand. Major ports are [[Port Blair]] in India; [[Dawei]], [[Mawlamyine]] and [[Thilawa Port|Yangon]] in Myanmar; [[Port Authority of Thailand|Ranong port]] in Thailand; [[George Town, Penang|George Town]] and [[Penang]] in Malaysia; and [[Belawan]] in Indonesia.<ref name=brit/>

===Tourism===
The Andaman Sea, particularly the western coast of the [[Malay Peninsula]], and the [[Andaman Islands|Andaman]] and [[Nicobar Islands]] of India and Myanmar are rich in [[coral reef]]s and offshore islands with spectacular topography. Despite having been damaged by the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, they remain popular tourist destinations.<ref>{{cite book |title=World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia |date=2007 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7614-7638-2 |page=585 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CiTAx3unBkYC |access-date=31 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The nearby coast also has numerous marine national parks – 16 only in Thailand, and four of them are candidates for inclusion into [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]s.<ref name=Panjarat />{{RP|7–8}}