Slow Success in Gujarat - Distinct Whale Shark Population

If you have been watching the conservation push to protect and sustainably commercialize whale shark populations off the coast of Gujarat India, like we have, you can only be impressed with this regional effort.

Gujarat is a well known whale shark harvest site, with local fishermen in small boats who harpoon and net these animals, often reaping rewards of $80,000 rupee or close to $1800 USD per shark. In a location like Gujarat where the regional daily wage hovers at $3.00 the incentive to harvest whale sharks is extremely high.

Yet a small group of local NGO's with the help of India's Tata Chemicals have managed to change local views and redirect fishermen away from harvesting sharks for a promise of shark tourism efforts to come.

Sustainable shark tourism is the key to saving these animals.

Additionally the team rolled out a shark tagging and research effort that now suggests these animals are a distinct population. If you want to save a regional shark population this is the kind of news that drives conservation forward, aided by shark research.

With the titanic shark fishing disaster in Playa del Carmen this year, 22 dead bull sharks and counting, taken by local fishermen who were alerted to a shark aggregation site by local dive shops wanting to capitalize on shark tourism. Gujarat stands as a fine example of slow and steady site roll outs where fishing pressures and the chance to make money from sharks with a one time fishery can be changed and modified.

Worldwide the shark tourism model can be wildly successful, but only if tourism is countered with research and local behavior modification where regional fishing pressures only grow with demand, made more deadly each year by the modern equipment and methods that are driven by demand.

Kudos.

Daniel Botelho Captures India

Underwater photographer and shark diver Daniel Botelho recently came back from India with a new set of images to behold.

We have been following Daniel for a while and are fans of his work, especially when it involves big charismatic terrestrials swimming in the ocean.

Last month Daniel unveiled his work in Mexico with sailfish. The sailfish site has been covered by a legion of underwater photographers his work is on par with some of the best out there.

Nice job Daniel on your latest adventures, here's his link.

Keeping Track of India's Shark Tourism

We have been following the efforts of a small group in India in tandem with a few well known NGO's who are reversing the wholesale slaughter of whale sharks in their region. Replacing the "one time take" instead with new whale shark tourism initiatives.

In our world whale sharks represent "instant tourism". In places where whale sharks aggregate divers throng from all over the planet to interact with these gentle giants. In many cases a daily rate of $200USD per diver is not uncommon. For a place like India $200USD represents a yearly wage for many impoverished fishermen rapidly providing the incentive for further protection of this species and others.

Existing whale shark dive protocols and ease of interaction with these animals allows operations to focus on the marketing and sales aspect of bringing whale sharks to divers. For India this program could be ramped up in a short period of time.

This organic and quite remarkable effort has paid off. Now, more often than not, whale sharks accidentally caught in nets are released with the help of a local team from "Save Whale Shark".

India Today writer Uday Mahurkar detailed the story of whale shark conservation in a simply terrific article this morning:

In September last year, fisherman Amrutlal Chauhan and helpers spread their nets in the sea near the Saurashtra coast, hoping to catch some fish. But what got trapped in the net took them by surprise. It was a 20-ft whale shark. A timely call was made to the local ‘Save Whale Shark’ campaign activist Dinesh Goswami who along with personnel of the forest and fisheries departments came to the spot to cut the nets open and set the giant fish free.

Complete Story

Happy Thanksgiving...Or "Whale Shark Day" India

While the rest of America scarfed down an estimated 200 million turkeys yesterday a small but growing festival in India "Whale Shark Day" gathered crowds again for the 4th year in a row.

As part of an ongoing effort to protect Whale Sharks in India and build on shark tourism as a bridge solution to sustainable shark management and preservation-this program bears watching by the international community.

As far as we are aware this is one of the first programs we have seen that is successfully attempting to transform a local economy away from fishing and into sustainable tourism with sharks. In 1972 the Whale Shark was placed in the Indian Wildlife Protection Act.

Editors Note: Our heartfelt condolence the people of Mumbai at this time.

Whale Shark Conservation-Wildlife Trust of India

How do you go from this image to sustainable shark tourism in India?

For many, India is a lost cause, but for a few it's fertile grounds to begin conservation on the street level with local fishermen by re-tasking them in ways that bring them closer to sustainable practices.

Whale sharks have long been know as "instant shark tourism" hopefully this program will lead to the inevitable next steps:

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in collaboration with the state Forests and Environment Department and the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) of Goa will conduct the five-year research to study whale shark habitat, map their migration, various aspects of their life cycles and genetic patterns.

With the commitment shown by the local fishing community for whale shark conservation in the coastal region of Saurasthra, a group of fishermen will be specially trained for project.The research, which also includes the study of the coral reef along the Gujarat coastline, is being funded by the Jamnagar-based Tata Chemicals Limited.

Marine biodiversity expert from NIO, M Wafar, who is part of the core team of scientists for the project, said, "We will be training the local fishermen to collect samples from underneath the sea. They will also be taught how to click photographs of whale sharks using underwater cameras.

India's Cage Diving Industry DOA

India, the planets fastest growing population and economy has reached a crises point with rampant, unregulated shark finning off it's shores.

As reported by the Daily Star "At least 50 shark processing centres have sprung up along the South Western Coast, employing over 2000 fishermen".

Once again sharks are being harvested for the ballooning fin market and the home cure market which more often than not is driven by hear-say and bogus science. Anyone remember the anti-cancer shark pill craze of the 80's-90's?

We are officially declaring India's cage diving industry DOA. If the global shark slaughter is not halted soon, by 2040 even finding sharks in any ocean will be a rare event. The only way to stop this slaughter is to show local populations another use for these magnificent animals and eco-tourism, so far, seems to be a leading contender.