The Hindu : Karnataka News : Lifting ban on shark fishing brings respite to fishermen

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 15, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Lifting ban on shark fishing brings respite to fishermen

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, NOV. 14. The lifting of ban on shark fishing in the State has put fishermen back into business. Fishing of 56 species of shark was banned 14 months ago under the Wildlife Act, 1972, and the Marine Fishing Act, 1986.

Hardships

Shark fishermen had to face hardships because of the ban. According to a rough estimation by the Shark Fishermen's Association of Karnataka, the State lost Rs. 800 crores in the past 14 months. Shark fins are a delicacy in the South Eastern countries and Malaysia alone imports fins worth Rs. 200 crores from Karnataka.

Concern

The president of the association, Niyaz, said fishermen shared the concern of the Centre in banning shark fishing, particularly of eight endangered ones of the 56 species that had habitats in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone shelf. With 600 specialised shark fishermen in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts, shark fishing was a highly specialised operation, he added.

With the lifting of ban, shark fishermen are now confident of venturing into the sea and are hopeful of reviving their livelihood.

Report

But the recent report by the Wildlife Group of India has called for a review of fisheries laws to help protect endangered species such as whale sharks. The report, "Gentle Giants of the Sea: India's Whale Shark Fishery", has urged the authorities to include whale sharks within the schedules of India's Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Proposal

The group has urged the authorities concerned to submit a proposal to the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to include Indian whale shark in Appendix III of the convention. Cross-border trading in species listed in Appendix III of CITES is subject to controls and regulation within a country.

Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the world's largest living fish and is found in tropical and warm temperate seas. In India, it is found mainly along its western shores with waters around Gujarat being the main fishing area.

Whale sharks are caught for their meat, fins, liver, cartilage, skin and viscera. Countries such as the U.S., Maldives, Taiwan, Honduras, Australia and the Philippines have banned hunting whale sharks in their waters.

Lucrative

However, despite the risk and uncertainty of whale shark fishing, it is a lucrative industry in India.

An average-sized whale shark will fetch up to Rs. 1,00,000. In December 1999 alone, 145 whale sharks were caught off Indian waters, which drew the attention of the world wildlife organisations, including the Greenpeace.

The association said the Ministry of Forests (MoF) had studied the species of sharks found in the Karnataka part of the Indian EEZ. Its report stated that out of the eight endangered species, not even one was found in the fishing range of shark fishermen.

Appropriate step

Mr. Niyaz said that only in deeper seas of the EEZ some endangered species were found. But then shark fishermen of the State were neither prepared nor equipped to venture into deep seas. Hence, the lifting of ban was the most appropriate step taken by the Government, he said.

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