Fiji Bull Sharks - Paper!

Yes those would be our samples - click for detail!

Remember?

 

That was then and alas, nothing much has come of it.

For some reason that eludes me, Christine never got around to actually publishing the relevant paper, and a later attempt at resuscitating the effort failed due to a general lack of interest and/or funding and/or time, or whatever. Plus I've been told that nowadays, the newest and shiniest tool for population studies is SNP markers and not anymore microsatellite DNA - and I'll most certainly leave it that, the more as that's about as much as I understand.

Or not - so correct me if I'm wrong.

Enter our indefatigable friend Kerstin!

She is now a newly minted, and highly deserving PhD - and the latest paper from her thesis once again confirms that the insular Bull Shark population from Fiji is genetically different, and likely closed = isolated from its continental counterparts. 

In essence, this means that our Bulls are truly unique and that they spend their whole life right here in the archipelago without ever engaging in large transoceanic migrations across deep water trenches and vast distances. And no, they also most definitely do not travel to Vanuatu and Australia for mating as was recently publicly proclaimed from the peak of Mount Stupid!

Obviously, this makes them specially precious but also, especially vulnerable - and Tashi's My Fiji Shark initiative, especially pertinent!

 

And the taxonomic consequences?

Years ago my ichthyological guru told me that a species is what a geneticist tells you it is - and very sadly and despite of my best efforts all the way to outright begging, the relevant Shark taxonomists remain firmly of the opinion that the present genetic distinction doesn't warrant declaring a new species. 

And when it comes to our Bulls at least being a possible (and I would add: obvious!) subspecies or race, I'm being told that apparently, in Shark taxonomy one just doesnt do that . 

Oh well - but we will keep on trying!

Anyway, great job!

Enjoy Kerstin's paper!

 

Oh and - please, Adopt Your Shark Now! 

Thank you.

 

Essential Waters - Paper!

Intrepid and indefatigable - co-authors Kerstin and Gauthier, and Tom! Source.

Behold!

All I can say is, at long last!

This has taken three interminable years of braving the weather very much including the historic TC Winston and navigating a myriad of  imponderabilia very much including plenty of the usual indigenous shenanigans and squillions of always famished namus, both of the flying and bipedal kind - not to mention the desperate advances of the infamous desperate expate housewives, let alone the even desperater expat singles!

So first and foremost, a big BRAVO, I'm mighty impressed for having stayed the course in the face of all those never-ending adversities - and I can most certainly leave it at that, the more as I trust that anybody with even the slightest knowledge of life in the SoPac will most definitely understand! :)

So there you have it.

This is the result of three years of mostly incredibly tedious fishing for juvenile Bull Sharks in the Rewa, Navua and Sigatoka. Taken in isolation, it once again confirms that Fiji's rivers harbor juvenile Bull Sharks, and that the likely parturition season coincides with when we observe that our big pregnant Bull Shark mommas leave the SRMR. 

Talking of which: so far the most likely candidates for 2019 are Shark Icon Tip and our usual Shark Superstar Brenda who will never forego the chance of some hanky panky with Whitenose - so what are you waiting for!

But that's just part of the story.

Our Bull Shark research is definitely coming full circle, and as time goes by and more data are being acquired and analyzed, you can expect more revelations about the nurseries but also likely population size, kinship, paternity and eventually, even philopatry - so keep watching this space! 

Great blog post by Kerstin here.
Enjoy!

Fishing for Sharks in Fiji - Paper!

Click for detail! 

How times change!

Remember Kerstin's master thesis and subsequent paper about coastal fishing in Fiji? 

Back then when she did her survey a mere five years ago, the data revealed that most caught Sharks were primarily being kept in order to sell the fins to the local bêche-de-mer traders who in turn would export them to Asia.

Not so nowadays.

Kerstin has once again interviewed dozens of fishermen all across Fiji and the news is not good. On top of discovering that indiscriminate overfishing and poaching have very unfortunately become ubiquitous, Shark fishing has fundamentally changed.

As the Asian demand, and thus the prices for the fins have crept ever lower, and as most middlemen have vanished due to the closure of the local bêche-de-mer trade, most caught Sharks are now being caught incidentally and consumed directly by the fishermen themselves. This is very much in line with international developments (and here! and here!) where as the prized Fish are being fished away, the once-eschewed Shark meat is increasingly being consumed as an alternate source of protein.

And where Sharks are still being targeted by small-scale commercial fishermen, it is for the local trade in the Fish markets where Shark meat is being sold as a cheap alternative to chicken and where you can buy a bundle of neonate Sharks for a fistful of dollars, but also in order to sell the fins directly to the local Asian restaurants.

This is obviously of concern.

Whereas trying to manage the fishery by monitoring the trade is comparatively easy, trying to monitor thousands of subsistence fishermen is not; and it is also of particular concern to us to discover that the fishermen are targeting the juveniles of Scalloped Hammerheads and especially Bull Sharks in the river nurseries, see the graph at the top.

Solutions?

Look no further than this commitment by Fiji at the 2017 UN Ocean Conference where I'm highly confident that good things will happen sooner rather than later. And when that eventuates, we will be standing ready to assist with the monitoring and enforcement like announced.

And yes: please Adopt Your Shark Now!

But I'm digressing as always.

Enjoy Kerstin's paper!

 

Sharks in the Ba Estuary - Paper!

Love love love this pic - source!

Behold!

Nice job by Tom et al.

From what I gather, whereas the field research has been challenging, the paper has been a rather traumatic experience - and no, no need to elaborate, the more as the good news is that this finally completes Tom's master thesis and that consequently, he can now fully concentrate on his already impressive career as a conservation photographer and filmmaker. 

So big congrats Tom - in every sense!

And the Ba estuary?

Our own ongoing research suggests that it may well be more than a mere aggregation and parturition site, and confirms that it is certainly a place of great interest warranting protection - but  these things are complicated and take a lot of time, and bycatch mitigation and enforcement will always be a huge challenge, meaning that at present, I'm alas not terribly hopeful for the short term.  

But hope springs eternal, and we're certainly going to stay on it.

In the meantime, enjoy Tom's paper.

To be continued no doubt!

«Einstein» unter Haien - Teil 2!

And here is part two!

Again, fucking excellent job.
Vinaka Vakalevu - enjoy!

«Einstein» unter Haien - Teil 1!

Behold!

Bravo - I must really say that I like it!

Kudos to producer François Loriol and presenter Tobias Müller for a job very well done!

Enjoy!

Für unsere Freunde in der Schweiz: Einstein!

Morgen ist die erste Folge!

Sofern Ihr wirklich nix Besseres zu tun habt. :)

Die zwei Sendungen sind hauptsächlich über die SRMR und die Forschung von Jürg und Kerstin - und obwohl ich noch nichts gesehen habe meinte ich, dass das Fernsehteam da wie üblich super Arbeit geleistet hat.

Viel Spass beim schauen!

Bull Shark Tagging in Fiji!

Very nice!

Check this out.

Pascal was here to assist Kerstin in catching and tagging neonate Bulls. And whilst she has been concentrating on the Rewa River where she has managed to bag more than 100 pups, he and Gauthier of Projects Abroad did fish in the Sigatoka - not as productive as the Rewa but in exchange the results have been  very interesting indeed!

And whereas I'm not at liberty to elaborate quite yet, I can reveal that they will most certainly become an integral part of an upcoming paper, so keep watching this space!

Anyway, lovely post!

And I had to chuckle at the typically Swiss polite reference to cultural challenges = the usual shenanigans where the locals will always try and test any newbie!

Enjoy!

Und schon wieder was auf Deutsch!

Sehr nett!

Alles in allem prima recherchiert, bravo.

Aber Katja ist weder Taucherin noch Biologin, und da haben sich halt doch ein paar Fehler eingeschlichen. Das beschriebene Angriffsverhalten, die Angriffs-Statistiken und Jaws beziehen sich auf Weisse Haie und nicht Bullenhaie; die Europäische Flotte im Südpazifik ist winzig = so um die 5 Boote, die stark reguliert und sicherlich mitnichten das Hauptproblem sind; und unser Staatshaushalt beträgt über 2 Milliarden, da sind die 15 Millionen in Steuern vergleichsweise irrilevant - leider!

Und ich bin auch ganz bestimmt kein Schweizer! :)

Aber eben - sonst alles sehr nett!

Viel Spass beim Lesen!

Fiji Bull Sharks - full Circle!

Kerstin - intrepid and extremely successful!

Finally!

We've detected two of our pregnant Bulls in one of our rivers!

Despite of our best efforts and more than a dozen years of research into the life history of Fiji's Bull Sharks, coming up with concrete evidence linking Shark Reef to one of the putative river nurseries has always eluded us as the tags would come off and the frequent floods would wash away the receiver arrays. But we've persevered, tinkered with the hardware, tagged a dozen pregnant Bulls in October and deployed new receivers in several rivers - and bingo, and this despite of the horrendous weather and floods a fortnight ago! With this having been little more than a small trial run, expect much, much more of the same next year!

And the river are teeming with babies!

This is obviously recruitment time, and Kerstin and her assistants from Projects Abroad and  the USP are reporting impressive numbers from all monitored rivers - the bad news being that absent any management let alone protection, the little Sharks are being obliterated by the local fishermen. 

This may well explain the disappointing numbers later in the year and is of course cause for grave concern, not least because it is also directly impacting on the long-term viability of Fiji's thriving Shark diving industry. But now that we have the evidence, we shall certainly go and speak to the powers that be - so fingers crossed!

To be continued no doubt.

Happy New Year everybody - may 2017 bring many more fantastic adventures!

Sharks in the Navua River - Paper!

Zero gravitas: Kira, Josh and El Diego - source.

Remember Victor?

No?

Sure you do - that's the dude who  investigated the presence of Sharks in Fiji's rivers using LEK and TEK and later on, by fishing for Sharks in the nearby Navua.

Back then I said that there needed to be follow-up.

And there has been, and here is the paper.

Courtesy of Project Abroad's Shark Program, it documents a further extensive LEK survey along with 385 hours of fishing that yielded 2 juvenile Sicklefin Lemons and two juvenile Scalloped Hammers in the estuary, plus only a measly 9 juvenile Bull Sharks - meaning that a) either the breathy hype was totally unwarranted or b) that El Diego actually knows what he's doing but that something has changed compared to 2010 when Victor was able to catch 5 Bulls in a fraction of that time.

My vote goes to the latter - reluctantly!

Once again, the bloody peer review has nixed what I believe is the most important aspect, i.e. that in the meantime, the Navua has been subjected to massive dredging for gravel in mid-river, along with further dredging at the river mouth. Think that maybe, there could be a correlation with the reduction in juveniles as this may have spooked the pregnant females and/or chased away the juveniles and/or  destroyed important nursery habitat?

But who I am to say - right?

Anyway, the investigation continues.

Keep watching this space!

PS - and talking of possible Shark nurseries in Fiji, read this!
       Very well done Tom!

Shark Geeks!

LtR: the indefatigable Debbie and Rick, plus young Shark researchers and conservation biologists Kerstin, Tom and Gauthier!

Life is good.

This has been loads of fun.

Shark conservation meets Shark research - with a generous sprinkling of big feisty Fiji Bulls!

Incidentally, the clouds are the outskirts of the bloody cyclone.

Christened Winston and presently rated a Cat 4, it is embarking on a crazy loop south of Fiji and then northward to Tonga, meaning that there is a chance that we down here and especially Kadavu may dodge the anticipated major bleaching event.

Fingers crossed!

Coastal Fishing for Sharks in Fiji - Paper!

Finally!

So here are the facts.

Whilst others continue to bullshit the public with tall tales of them spearheading the fight against finning in the SoPac, or whatever, we've decided to finally shed a light on what really happens in Fiji away from the well-documented shenanigans (and here!) by the Tuna long liners.

In essence, we've embarked into a two-month road trip throughout the country - and lemme tell 'ya, it has been epic!

Under Juerg's leadership, we took Swiss masters student Kerstin Glaus to every single coastal village we could reach, see the paper, where she conducted interviews with the local fishermen; and then, we visited some of the principal fish markets in order to verify and collect further evidence.

The results were equally impressive and disturbing.

Contrary to common lore whereby Fijians don't fish for Sharks, we found that local small- and medium-scale subsistence and commercial Shark fishing was very much alive and even on the rise following the defeat of the Shark Sanctuary Campaign but also very much because as Sea Cucumber stocks were being wiped out, the bêche-de-mer traders were increasingly asking for Shark fins as a commercial substitute, and because Sharks were increasingly being consumed as stocks of other more prized Fishes were dwindling.

A first outcome was Kerstin's stellar masters thesis, see at top.

Much more comprehensive than the present paper -and we shall come back to that-, it was the basis of a series of presentations to Fiji's Department of Fisheries that having so far lacked any relevant data, had been largely unaware of the extent of the problem and consequently failed to enact any management measures. Thankfully, this is now changing, also owing to the implementation of the latest protection measures under CITES.

And now this knowledge is finally open source.

But whilst I loved the masters thesis, I'm somewhat underwhelmed by the present paper.

And this is why.

There is bycatch and bycatch.

If a coastal fisherman goes out to net himself some Mullet and having left the net to soak overnight, comes back to find a dead Blacktip Reefie among his catch, then the Shark is genuine bycatch = unplanned, unintended and unwanted.
 

But what about this.
If a spear fisherman sets out to catch himself a Parrotfish for dinner but upon encountering a Blacktip Reefie, decides to shoot it in order to sell its fins, then I hope that we can all agree that the circumstances leading to the Shark's demise are radically different from the first example. Same-same as if that same Parrotfish-hunting spearo ventured across a White Teatfish and decided to collect it in order to pocket its staggering price of 150.00 bucks, notabene for a single individual.

In both these cases, the take is equally unplanned and thus defined as bycatch - but it is certainly very much intended and wanted!

IMO rightfully, Kerstin decided to highlight that difference.

She decided to differentiate between accidental and intentional bycatch, and I cite from her masters thesis.

Several studies indicate that threatened species are also caught as bycatch in artisanal fisheries (Godley et al. 1998, Jaramillo-Legorreta et al. 2007, Peckham et al. 2007). Bycatch is defined as the capture of non-target species or undesired sizes of target species (Lewison et al. 2004). Thus, bycatch is typically discarded. However, bycatch can also be retained as valuable source of income, and hence be sought intentionally (Ebert et al. 2013). Furthermore, the association of intentional bycatch of several marine species with artisanal fisheries has recently been reported (Casale 2011). Therefore, inshore shark species may be increasingly under pressure from local-scale artisanal fisheries...

Respondents who had sharks as bycatch were further divided into accidental and intentional bycatch (further described in chapter 1). The distinction between intentional and accidental bycatch was mainly based on the use of sharks caught. Discard of sharks caught is the main criterion in this study for accidental bycatch. Since non-targeted but used sharks may be caught intentionally, any kind of usage (e.g. fin sale, meat sale, regular and repeated consumption) is regarded as main criterion for intentional bycatch.

Gill-nets and hand-lines are commonly used in artisanal fisheries to target reef finfishes (Pratchett et al. 2011). Therefore, the deployment of lines with catch capacities of around 100 pounds and more is used as a further criterion for intentional bycatch. Moreover, the application of spears and spearguns is considered here as technique used for intentional bycatch, since the intrinsic purpose of that fishing gear excludes accidental bycatch.

And with that in mind, this was the result.

See what I mean?

Suddenly, those otherwise rather innocuous bycatch statistics become highly relevant. As a minimum, they document that catching Sharks has become desirable for well over half of Fiji's coastal fishermen - and we all know all-too-well how that desire will lead to dire consequences!

Case in point: we're definitely losing Bull Sharks at a rather alarming rate!

Alas, the paper's peer reviewers did not agree.

The differentiation between accidental and intentional bycatch was scrapped, IMO much to the detriment of the paper's relevance along with its value for any fisheries management bodies.

Oh well - at least the authorities here know the whole picture.

And one last thing.

Remember the musings about Spinner Sharks in Fiji? 

Kerstin's picture from the Lautoka market has been recently corroborated by this catch in the Rewa. That's not a Blacktip C. limbatus but a Spinner, C. brevipinna - check out the anal fin and compare to this ID guide!

But I'm digressing as always.

Enjoy Kerstin and Juerg's paper!