Unsung Shark Conservation Hero? Yes, Claudia Li

We spend a lot of time pointing out what's not working with shark conservation.

Namely to try and guide the discussion and or deflate those whose world views about themselves or conservation messaging is out of touch, out of whack, and downright counter productive to a global effort to save sharks.

So instead we wanted to focus on someone who is doing things right. A group that has created a global template for awareness and change within a community, and that group is Shark Truth.

We have been huge fans of Shark Truth from its inception back in 2009. Here's an organization whose branding, messaging, outreach, and media roll outs have been simply flawless.

If you want to see a website that's on point, on target, and frankly the future of shark fin conservation on a regional level you cannot help but admire what Vancouver, Ca resident Claudia Li and her team have put together.

Shark Truth could, if funded to its logical resource level, become the future of shark fin change across the planet. From Hong Kong to Malaysia and back smart and local boots on the ground efforts are the way to effect conservation change.

It's not sexy work, there's no reality tv moments, no $75.00 sustainable appetizers at Hollywood parties, what Claudia does is real conservation grind. Changing the minds and the hearts of her community one person at a time, making her and her entire team the Unsung Heroes of Shark Conservation.

If you would like to see a world where Shark Truth had branch offices across the planet, donate here this is money well spent, this is money that will actually save sharks for generations to come.

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Boosting Tourism by Saving Sharks?

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian state plans to ban shark fishing in a bid to bolster tourism and conserve a species hunted mainly for fins that are used to create a culinary delicacy, an official said Monday.

Masidi Manjun, tourism, culture and environment minister in eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, said local activists and foreign tourists have complained about cruel shark finning activities by local fishermen.

He said the state government is aiming to impose the ban starting next year. It would make Sabah the first state in Malaysia — one of the world's top shark-catching countries — to impose such a ban.

While there is no official data on the shark population, Masidi estimated only 20 percent of sharks spotted in the state 15 years ago are still in Sabah waters.

"There are only four coastal areas now where sharks can be spotted," he told The Associated Press. "If we don't do something about it, sharks may disappear from our waters completely. We will also lose tourism dollars."

Tens of millions of sharks are killed across the globe every year, mainly for their fins. Activists say finning is inhumane and a threat to the ocean ecosystem because fishermen slice the fins off the shark and toss the fish back into the water to die.

Shark fin soup, widely sold across Asia, can sell for more than $80 a bowl and is often served at weddings and banquets as a symbol of wealth.

Restaurant operators in Sabah oppose the ban, saying that sharks are also harvested for their flesh, skin and bones, which can be made into soup.

"We conserve our sharks here, but then they swim out to the South China Sea and get caught by Chinese or Vietnamese fishermen instead. What is the point?" said Sabah Restaurant Association chairman Lim Vun Chen.

Masidi said the state would not ban the importation and sale of shark fins for now but would educate consumers on the cruelty of shark finning. Sabah's government has already taken shark fin soup off the menu for official functions, he said.

Tourism is a major revenue earner for Sabah, which is famed for the rich biodiversity in its rain forests and dive sites teeming with coral reefs and marine life.

Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring network, says up to 73 million sharks are killed annually. Malaysia ranks among the world's top 10 shark-catching countries, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

HSI Supports Shark Finning Workshop

PUNTARENAS, Costa Rica (September 10, 2010) – A two-day international workshop on shark conservation, hosted by Costa Rica’s Fisheries Authority INCOPESCA and supported by the NGOs Pew and Humane Society International, took place in the Costa Rican port of Puntarenas. The workshop, which focused on the technical aspects of landing sharks with their fins naturally attached to their bodies, was attended by delegates from 13 North, Central and South American countries.

The “fins-attached” method has gradually been gaining international recognition because it is the best response to end the practice of shark finning and ensures fewer shark catches. The United Nations General Assembly, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the review process of the UN Fish Stocks agreement have all recommended “fins-attached” policies.

Facts:
Sharks are apex predators whose survival affects all other marine species and entire ocean ecosystems.

"Finning" refers to the act of cutting off a shark's fins and throwing the rest of the shark back into the sea. It is estimated that tens of millions of sharks are killed to supply the wasteful demand for shark fin soup every year.

For hundreds of years, shark fin soup has been served as a symbol of social status and a traditional way for the elite to display their wealth in Eastern Asian. Countries such as China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong), Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Thailand import thousands of
metric tonnes of shark fins each year.

The practice of shark finning is global and has led to severe declines in shark populations. Unlike other fish species, sharks produce very few young and mature slowly and consequently, overexploited populations can take years or even decades to recover.

Most fishing nations do not have finning bans in place, while others require that carcasses be retained, but allow the fins to be removed from the carcasses at sea provided that, when landed and weighed, the fins weigh no more than 5 percent of the weight of the shark. This has resulted in lengthy disagreements over the 'correct' weight ratio of the fins. Furthermore, doubts have been raised about the availability of sufficient resources to monitor compliance, which would require the weighing of every shark catch that arrives at dock.

Fins-attached policies require no weighing, therefore facilitating compliance. Shark conservation is greatly enhanced by fins-attached policies, as fishers have to store every shark that they catch, reducing the total catches and ensuring full usage of the carcasses and decreased wastage.

Whale Shark Highlights Donsol, and WWF

This weeks news coming from WWF staff in Donsol, Philippines is shedding new light on the breeding habits of the biggest sharks in the ocean - and how serious boots on the ground efforts by NGO's help shark conservation.

A tiny whale shark was found at the weekend with a rope tied around its tail, secured to a stick poked in the sand in a coastal town near Donsol in Sorsogon province.

Environment group WWF said a hawker was allegedly trying to sell the fish in an area that sees the world's largest known annual gathering of whale sharks. After checking to see the baby whale shark was unhurt, WWF, police and government officials measured and photographed it before releasing it in deeper water.

The find is very significant for scientists, who know little about where the biggest fish in the ocean goes to give birth to its live young.

Until now it was thought the Philippines was simply a stop-off point for the rare species. But WWF-Philippines chief executive Jose Ma Lorenzo Tan says the tiny size of the whale shark caught on Friday strongly suggests it was born there.

"In spite of all the research that is being done worldwide on whale shark, to this date no one knows where they breed or give birth," Tan says.

"For many years, scientists thought that Donsol was merely a 'gas station' along the global network of marine highways where whale sharks cruised.

"This new discovery is the first ever indication that this coastline may actually be a birthing site." Tan said the find showed how critical it was to protect marine environments in the Philippines, and other countries that make up the Coral Triangle.

"This is no surprise. After all this has happened in the Coral Triangle - the nursery of the seas - where life begins, and many things remain possible," he said. WWF promotes conservation programs across Coral Triangle countries, which also include Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor.

It is aiming to establish a network of marine protected areas that will help ensure whale sharks continue to migrate safely to the waters off Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia's northwest coast.

Papua New Guinea is hosting a high-level meeting this week on a plan to protect marine ecosystems and food security in the Coral Triangle. Details will be announced at the Coral Triangle Initiative Summit at the World Ocean Conference on May 15.

Maldives Sharks - Historic Decision

The Marine Research Center, Maldives in tandem with the ministry of fisheries and agriculture has extended the moratorium on reef shark fishing to cover the whole of the Maldives, as part of a historic move towards a total ban on both reef and oceanic shark hunting.

The Banyan Tree Resort also deserves kudos for their ongoing efforts to preserve sharks in the region.

This move is simply remarkable, showing a level of government leadership that few other 1st world governments have yet to adopt. The Maldives have been quick studies of the power of shark tourism and research vs one time takes and this announcement sets the table for other governments such as Malaysia to follow suit:

Marie Saleem, a reef ecologist at the marine research centre and one of those at the forefront of the campaign to ban shark hunting, said she was both excited and relieved to hear that the efforts of those who had been pushing for a ban were finally fruitful.

For divers, shark conservationists, and others, sending an email of support would be highly appropriate at this time. When fisheries decide to make the right move for sharks we need to be there as well. Kudos.

Email: Maldives Fisheries

Ecotourism and Sharks - Malaysia

Over the past three months tourism officials in Mayalsia have been wrestling with the issue of shark finning and a proposed boycott of the region by international divers seeking stronger protections for sharks.

Malaysia seems to be rising to the occasion organically with the following announcement by the Saba Anglers Association (SAA):

The Sabah Anglers' Association (SAA) will use the Sabah International Fishing Tournament 2009 as a platform for its Anti-Shark Finning Campaign. The campaign's committee chairman, Nilakrisna James, said SAA was concerned at the depletion of unique fish in Sabah waters, including protected species like sharks.

"In the past, we have voiced our concern on suspicious marine activities taking place in Sabah waters which received lukewarm response from the authorities.

"We do not need a global boycott from the increasingly green-conscious international travellers to take matters seriously," she said at a press conference on the tournament here today.

Nilakrisna said SAA was campaigning not only to ban shark finning activities in the state, but also at the universal level.

"The ban should be universal and not just for the reason of protecting the tourism integrity or the diving business in the state," she said.

Editors Note: Any efforts by regional players in Malaysia towards anti shark finning efforts should be encouraged. The gov response to the proposed dive boycott has been admirable thus far. The dive community should continue to encourage the tourism minister in tandem with the fisheries minister to enact local laws with a mix of tourism incentives to ban shark finning entirely.

The Power of Shark Tourism

What began as a few online posts exposing shark fishing in Pulau Mabul by concerned divers has grown into a bit of a movement.

A movement that Tourism Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun is taking seriously.

"Nature lovers and the global conservation community are fast becoming an influential lobbying group who could hurt the state tourism industry if they decide to boycott Sabah in protest against such activities."

Malaysia needs tourism, but tourism alone does not provide enough money to stop shark finning in the region. So, what is the solution?

Monetization.

As we have long pointed out where local fishermen see the financial incentive to keep sharks alive they do. Maylasia has discovered the power of shark tourism to increase tourism dollars to the region and the eco centric divers shark tourism attracts. Our industry needs to provide Tourism Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun with the tools he will need to effect change in his region for continued and better tourism with sharks.

Some suggestions:

Park Fees and Outreach - Worldwide pilot programs providing local populations with money not to kill sharks are showing promise. Western tourists will gladly pay more money into regional parks if they know these monies will help preserve the environment.

Education and Redevelopment - Tourism in undeveloped regions is always a first step. Providing incentives to local resorts with tax beaks to help develop "off site" dive sites in regions where shark finning is happening is a viable solution. Add to that a partnership with an NGO or better yet direct engagement by local resorts in the region to educate local fishermen to the lasting value of sharks.

The growing calls from the dive community for a ban on dive tourism in the region is a "one trick pony" and serves only to provide a laser focus to the shark finning issue. Viable tourism solutions need to be forthcoming to move this regional issue into the next phase, direct and lasting action.

Complete Story

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Shark Tourism Mabul Island, Minister Acts

At DEMA this year we were discussing the state of shark tourism with a number of tourism representatives from all over the world.

As we have long pointed out shark tourism enables local populations to sustainably manage sharks. The value of shark tourism in places like the Maldives is US$2.3 million a year-an estimated at 100 times more than the export value of that islands shark meat.

This is an industry drumbeat that's been gaining acceptance over the years and is now being adopted by forward thinking NGO's.

Unfortunately in many places this paradigm has also become a race between local fishermen who harvest sharks, for both fins and quick profits, and the newly developed and existing shark tourism operators in the region.

No where is this more aptly highlighted then recently in Malaysia and Mabul Island. This week State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun took the extraordinary step of calling for an investigation of shark fishing activities in the region. This is to applauded and kudos to the minister for this stance.

If Mabul Island and surrounding region is to retain it's sharks, local efforts in tandem with government are the key:

"Nature lovers and the global conservation community are fast becoming very influential lobbyists whose action could hurt the State's tourism industry in the long run if they decide a boycott of Sabah to protest against activities perceived to be cruel to whales and sharks," minister quote.

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Scuba Scooters

This is pretty much the dumbest idea to come down the pike since the invention of the UW Pager For Business Travelers.

Once again some science/business guy has come up with a way to get non divers down to an incredible 60 feet without knowing the first thing about scuba.

"This year the company will build 100 Scuba Scooter units from fibreglass moulds for a chain of international resorts in Malaysia and by next Christmas it's hoped a million of the units will be out for sale".

Shark Diver will soon be marketing the all new "HUD-view mask" guaranteed to warn you when a Scuba Scooter, driven by a Narc'd Malaysian, is weaving its way towards you.

Cue the Jaws music boys...