Killer Fishermen Turn Whale Shark Saviours

June 13, 2007

Release from: Madhumita Mookerji
Daily News and Analysis

KOLKATA: Once indiscriminately slaughtered by fishermen in the coastal areas of Saurasthra in Gujarat, the highly endangered whale shark is getting some respite at last.

According to estimates, about one thousand were slaughtered by Gujarat’s fishermen especially between 1990- 2001, who hunted them for their oil, fins and meat. These fetched high prices in the international market.

However, over the last one and a half years, there have been instances of the predators turning preservers. The fishermen themselves have rescued nine of these huge creatures of the sea. The latest incident was in May when fishermen freed a 20-feet long fish about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Veraval in Gujarat. Read latest news at DNA

This has been possible through a joint awareness campaign, mounted by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Tata Chemicals and the Gujarat state government.

“It is interesting to see the active teamwork between the fishermen, the fisheries and forest officials, which has helped to rescue and release nine whale sharks in the recent past,” says Dhiresh Joshi, of WTI.

In fact, following the ‘Save the Whale Shark’ campaign since 2004, experts are now concentrating on studying the behavioural and migratory patterns of the creatures along the Indian coast, WTI sources said.

But what had made the fishermen go up in arms? They had threatened to undo conservation efforts and kill hundreds of these endangered mammals unless the state government gave them fuel subsidies promised to them three years ago.

The fishermen said they needed help to run their boats and were forced to hunt the huge yet docile fishes for money.

The Gujarat government has reportedly announced a compensation of Rs 25,000 for each fishing net damaged in attempts to save a whale shark. Whale sharks were provided the highest protection in the country, under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 2001.

Around 1,200 of these animals migrate swim the Indian Ocean to the Gujarat coast from East Africa for breeding every year.