Whale Shark Rescued, Released Off Gujarat Coast

February 19, 2007

Release from: Sibte Husain Bukhari
Ahmedabad News (India)

Junagadh - A Whale shark was rescued and released into the Arabian Sea on Monday after it got entangled in fishing nets in the high seas off the coast of Junagadh district. This is the third such operation at mid-sea, said forest department officials attributing the successful exercise to the ‘Save Whale Shark’ campaign, a joint initiative by the State Government and NGOs.

According to official sources, the whale shark got entangled in the nets of fishing boat — VRL 13608—- around 4.30 am on Monday while the boat was 50 nautical miles away from Sutrapada coast near Veraval in Junagadh district. Fisherman Kanji Lala Phulbaria, who owns the boat, and his crew immediately began trying to establish contact with the forest department officials over cellphone. “We finally got through to Veraval’s Range Forest Officer T S Babaria at 7.30 am,” said Phulbaria.

After Phulbaria told him of the trapped whale shark, Babaria called Phulbaria’s son— - Naresh, Jayanti and Dine—h - in Vadodara-zala village. As soon as Phulbaria’s sons arrived, they set out to Kanji’s boat along with two forest department officials. “Forester M K Chudasama and B A Mahida were chosen for the task as they have had previous experience of such an operation,” said official sources. The rescue team reached Phulbaria’s boat around 10 am and immediately set to cutting the fishing nets.

After an hour-long exercise, the whale shark was finally freed. According to Phulbaria, the whale shark was around nine metres long and weighed six tonnes.

“The quickness with which the fishing crew reacted and the manner in which the entire operation was conducted is the result of the ‘Save Whale Shark’ campaign which commenced in Veraval on Saturday,” said Deputy Conservator of Forest (Girnar Range) S K Mehta, when contacted. Mehta monitored the rescue and release operation.

The Veraval leg of the ‘Save Whale Shark’ campaign saw participation by 8,000 members of the fishing community.

The whale shark, which falls under the Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, was also declared Veraval’s mascot during the drive.

“As per guidelines issued by the State Government, the forest department has announced compensation of Rs 25,000 for fishermen who cut their nets to set free whale sharks trapped in them. In this case, the fisheries and the forest department will jointly decide how much damage was suffered by the fishermen during this rescue operation and award compensation for the same,” Mehta added.