Shark fishing completely banned in Mexican waters?

The National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (Conapesca) decided to ban the fishing of all shark species in federal waters on both coasts in order to contribute to the conservation of the resource.

The ban will be extended during the period of greatest reproductive intensity of the main species, that is to say, between May and August each year, and in each particular region.

According to Mexican fishery authorities, this is the first such action taken in the countries of Latin America.

Commission officials met on June 2 with concessionaires and licensees of commercial fishing for shark and specialists in this resource to present the results of "research on reproductive periods of representative species and the effects of their protection" by scientists from the National Fisheries Institute (Inapesca), reported Conapesca.

During the meeting held in Mexico City, Inapesca researchers detailed the methodology used in the sampling, presented the results of the studies in the geographical areas where the fleet of the country's coastal work and the information from the observers’ programme on board.

Before publishing the establishment of the closed season in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF), Conapesca will perform indications regarding the regulatory project with additional technical considerations made by experts of the Institute.

The meeting was also attended by some representatives of the National Chamber of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Canainpesca), of the Union of Coastal Shipowners from Océano Pacífico AC, of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (Conacoop) and Inapesca specialists.

Juan Campos Cárdenas, a spokesman for the Federation of Shark and Scale Cooperatives assured that fishermen are willing to enforce the ban. However, he sought to establish compensation for the period of inactivity.

While the Government considers that about 30,000 tonnes of sharks are caught annually in Mexican waters, several organizations for the protection of marine fauna warn that overfishing has reduced the volume, AFP reported.

Fiji Study - Fiji Template

We have said in the past and for the sake of saying it again, kudos!

Fiji's Beqa Adventure Divers have once again shown the rest of the commercial shark world how to sustainably manage their sharks with ongoing research.

While other sharks sites worldwide such as Playa del Carmen struggle with commercial shark fishing interests, because they did not take the time to roll out an embedded and highly visible research component with their diving programs, Fiji has created a global template - and they are willing to share it.

That's not to say all's lost elsewhere, but the fact remains that too few sites hedge against commercial disasters and embrace ongoing shark research. It works, and we are bound by more than commercial gain to adopt the time and funding necessary to make it happen at our own shark sites.

This morning Da Shark revealed his teams ongoing Bull shark project:

Seasonal and Long-Term Changes in Relative Abundance of Bull Sharks from a Tourist Shark Feeding Site in Fiji

Juerg M. Brunnschweiler, Harald Baensch

ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, Nebraska, United States of America

Shark tourism has become increasingly popular, but remains controversial because of major concerns originating from the need of tour operators to use bait or chum to reliably attract sharks. We used direct underwater sampling to document changes in bull shark Carcharhinus leucas relative abundance at the Shark Reef Marine Reserve, a shark feeding site in Fiji, and the reproductive cycle of the species in Fijian waters. Between 2003 and 2009, the total number of C. leucas counted on each day ranged from 0 to 40. Whereas the number of C. leucas counted at the feeding site increased over the years, shark numbers decreased over the course of a calendar year with fewest animals counted in November. Externally visible reproductive status information indicates that the species' seasonal departure from the feeding site may be related to reproductive activity.

Complete study here.

Shark Media Done Right USA Today

Nice to see USA Today running a well balanced commercial shark tourism piece this week. The ongoing development of Isla Mujeres into a world class whale shark destination (one might suggest THE destination) has been a quiet triumph for the entire industry.

As we have long said whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, represent instant tourism wherever they are found in concentrations that allow divers a 90% chance of encounters.

This mornings news from Mexico affirms the best of what the industry has to offer.

Deni Ramirez - Mexico's Shark Research

A few years ago we got to meet Mexican shark researcher Deni Ramirez while on a pleasure cruise with the Nautilus Explorer to the Revillagigedo Islands.

Mexico is filled with dedicated biologists who lead the front line boots on the ground efforts to save and study it's endemic flora and fauna.

The week long meeting with her and her cohorts was a highlight of the trip and Kudos to Mike Lever for providing a platform for Mexico's researchers.

Today we got an exciting email about a new shark website Deni has launched:

Hello Shark Divers,

I hope that everything is ok for you! My whale shark project have a
web site. We are starting a whale shark adoption project. Our goal is
to collocate satellite tags in whale sharks from Mexico. We already
tagged 2 Whale Sharks and we will tag 4 more soon!! I hope that you
find it interest and probably you know people how find it interest!
here you can check the web site:

Whale Sharks Mexico

Best wishes!

--
Dení Ramírez Macías