NZ Cage Diving - the Saga continues!

Source.

Well well.

Read this.

Looks like the NZ GWS tourism industry has been granted a new lease on life. My sources tell me that  of the two operators, Shark Experience are by far the better - so good on them for having persevered and ultimately prevailed!

And Peter Scott's Shark Dive NZ? 

Thankfully they appear to have thrown in the towel for good. So here's to this being the start of smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive Shark tourism, and to the end of the horrible Shark porn those people have enabled - and worry not, they read this blog and the distaste is 100% mutual! :)

Anyway.

Let's go Shark diving - sustainably!
 

NZ Cage Diving - the End?

Source - very much worth reading!

Well well well.

Read this.

So the infamous saga of those haphazard cage dives off Stewart Island appears to have come to its very much expected and I may say, very much deserved! ignominious end.

Like I said way back here, there was a need for a social license (yes Austin and Charlie!), and for outreach by the researchers - and both have been appallingly lacking. And yes, a big Thank You to the Shark pornographers - and a big honorable mention to the Ramsey chick whose inconsiderate pronouncements did further inflame the situation and torpedo the research by NIWA!

So, well done folks!

Hoping that yer fucking proud of yerselves - and considering the actors, equally hoping that this is the end of that travesty!

PS - not so fast, sez Peter Scott the enabler of all that demented Shark porn on Discovery.
Oh well then - to be continued...

PPS - ultracrepidarian garbage here - Dunning-Kruger anybody?

Thank you ABC4, Jeff Kurr and Peter Scott!

Source.

Watch this shit.

And this is the reaction it has provoked.

Everybody knows that GWS diving in Stewart Island is a tinderbox - but trust the Kings of Shark Porn to continue with their provocations, and the usual hypocritical operator to enable them. And the best part - the stupid NZ authorities continue to welcome them back!

And lemme repeat myself.

• Are we gonna continue pretending this aint happening?

• Are we gonna continue watching that shit?

• Are we the operators gonna continue enabling it?

• Are we gonna continue giving our business to operators that do?

• Are we gonna continue associating with those people?

PS - Martin here!

Stewart Island - the Gloves are off!

From the Stewart Island News, January 2015.

The shark cage debate caught the attention of some MPs who came down here on a fact-finding
mission and held two meetings at the Hall.

Clayton Mitchell and Fletcher Tabuteau hope to take the case to Parliament and convince the
government to change DoC’s decision.
MPs Clayton Mitchell and Fletcher Tabuteau of NZ First recently visited the island on a fact-finding mission to chat with locals and learn more about the shark cage diving issue here. They held two meetings and discussed their assessment of the situation, fielded comments and questions from attendees, and promised to take the case to Parliament. “This is a unique situation and there should be a moratorium while a study is conducted,” said Mitchell.

One interesting angle Mitchell sees in this issue is the new PCBU (Person Conducting Business or Undertaking) work safety legislation coming out, adopted from Australia, which will have a huge impact on the nation, holding every person accountable for their actions at work. The goal is to reduce work-place accidents by 25 percent by 2020. Mitchell wants to point out to the government that trying to enact this legislation in an environment where shark divers and paua divers share the same work-space poses a logistical nightmare.

The meetings were a bit of “preaching to the choir” as the majority who went are opposed to the cage activities, but it was interesting to hear everyone’s perspectives on the situation.
Charlotte Bates and Diane Smith both demanded to know WHY DoC went ahead and issued the permits. One B&B owner suggested that businesses refuse to accommodate shark tourists, though Mitchell pointed out that could be tricky if the visitor spent five days at a place and then decided to go cage diving on the last day. He also pointed out this could make the Island look inhospitable.
Eamonn Ganley voiced a concern felt by many: ‘The horse has already bolted. The sharks’ behaviour has already changed. How are we going to turn that around?”
Zane Smith responded it could be changed back; and Mitchell replied that we need to try to stop it, as soon as possible, and reverse the damage done if possible.

Paua diver John Hildebrand pointed out that if it is assumed that while a shark boat is operating then dive operations cannot work in the area, that is setting a dangerous precedent for all industries nationwide. Mitchell agreed: ‘It’s ridiculous, it’s like if I open a fish and chips shop across the road from yours and then asked you to stop operating.” John also pointed out that blocking out access to the islands would mean a quota reduction for the paua industry.
Phil Sanford, who had seen a great white at Bragg’s Bay the previous day, pointed out what many long time area fisherman and divers have been saying: the back of Edward’s is a primo spot and why has this essentially been given over to shark cage divers? “They are blocking out use for most of the islands out there – who’s going to want to go paua diving or codding in a small boat now?”

Tabuteau confessed he’d been on the fence about the issue when he came down to the island, and in their caucus some politicians assumed there was more hysteria than reality being reported. But after talking to locals he believes there is a real cause for concern.
Both men are fathers, water-users, and first-time MPs. Micthell has promised to come back to the island for another meeting.

Articles here and here.

And then, there's this.

Community monitoring of shark cage diving operations 

Two Great White Shark Cage Diving Operators (GWSCDOs) were recently granted permits by the Department of Conservation (DOC) to operate in the waters around Edwards Island, despite vocal and sustained opposition from commercial paua divers and a large proportion of the Stewart Island community. Now that the permits have been granted, Stewart Islanders have a strong interest in doing everything possible to minimise the risks that GWSCDOs create for other users of the marine environment. Part of this is to make sure GWSCDOs adhere strictly to the conditions of their permits. DOC can (but doesn’t have to) terminate a permit if any of the permit conditions are breached, including any breaches of the GWSCDO Code of Practice. 

However, the permits don’t require DOC to have observers on all GWSCDO vessels or to undertake any other compliance monitoring. In these circumstances it’s not clear how DOC will detect any breaches of the permit conditions or enforce compliance. The Paua Industry Council (PIC) is therefore urging local paua divers and the Stewart Island community to keep a close eye on the GWSCDOs to make sure that they adhere to their permit conditions and to report any breaches to DOC. This article suggests how GWSCDOs can be monitored by community members and identifies some of the main permit conditions to watch out for. 

Community-based monitoring 
Ways in which the local community can usefully monitor GWSCDO activities include: 

• Anecdotal information from tourists who have been on GWSCDO vessels; 
• Observations of changes in shark behaviour around Stewart Island; 
• Observing GWSCDO activities if you happen to be in a nearby vessel (but avoid interfering with GWSCDO operations); 
• and Monitoring You Tube and other social media for film clips of GWSCDOs posted by tourists. 

In all cases it is best, if possible, to back up any observations or anecdotal evidence with documentary evidence such as film or photographs. 

Permit conditions to watch out for 
The permits restrict GWSCDOs to operating within 250m of the shore around Motunui/Edwards Island. Any GWSCDOs operating outside this area should be reported immediately to DOC. Shark behavioural change has been attributed mainly to the methods used to attract sharks to the dive site.
Watch out for the following shark-attracting activities, all of which are prohibited by the permit conditions and therefore should be reported to DOC: 

• Berley which is so coarsely minced that it provides food for sharks; 
• Sacks of berley hanging from the side of the vessel or from a float or any other device; 
• Throw baits that are made from anything other than legally obtained fish products; 
• Throw baits that are pulled into or allowed to drift into the cage; 
• Use of throw baits before the vessel is anchored; 
• Use of more than one throw bait at a time; 
• Use of throw baits after a shark has already been attracted to the boat; 
• Sharks feeding on or taking the throw bait; 
• Continued use of throw baits after a shark has taken a bait (if a shark takes a throw bait, no further throw baits can be used on that day); and 
• Any use of artificial decoys or lures. 

Once the dive is underway, watch out for any diver behaviour that that harasses or is potentially harmful to a shark and also identify any situations where a shark shows signs of becoming distressed or alarmed. In both these cases the dive supervisor is supposed to terminate the dive. 

The permits do not allow commercial filming during GWSCDO trips (separate authorisation must be obtained). 
If you become aware of any commercial filming this should be reported to DOC. 

Other events that should be reported to DOC include all incidents of shark entanglement, shark ingestion of material, sharks becoming trapped or partially trapped in the dive cage, and injuries to sharks. 

Finally, DOC is able to terminate a permit if the GWSCDO causes any “unforeseen or unacceptable adverse effects” on great white sharks. All changes to shark behaviour such as examples of aggression towards people or boats around Stewart Island should therefore be immediately reported to DOC, ideally with documentary evidence. 

Reporting to DOC 
DOC is in the process of setting up a system for members of the public to report any observations about GWSCDOs. Until that process is set up, any observations of breaches in permit conditions, complaints about GWSCDO operations, or shark behavioural changes should be reported to DOC at marine@doc.govt.nz.

It really is a bloody can of worms.

But what riles me most in this communication fiasco is the apparent total absence of DoC, the researchers and the operators. The only viable long-term chance to make this a sustainable industry is to engage the local stakeholders - and on that front, all I can see is a rather abject fail.

Dunno whether it is cowardice or merely stupidity - but they got to do better!

Not impressed!

NZ GWS Tourism - new Rules!

Source.

Here we go.

Read this.

With baiting and decoys forbidden, one has to wonder how the operators will manage to attract the Sharks to the cages - the flip side being that the Pāua divers will henceforth have a hard time substantiating their claims that Shark diving is conditioning the animals and making them more dangerous!

With that in mind - good decision!

And those moronic TV shows?

Here's to somebody having learned the obvious lessons, and to no more access for those US Shark pornographers!

PS - Controls on commercial filming. Hear hear!
PPS - Permit of Shark Dive New Zealand here, of  Shark Experience here - note Article 7 about termination if the operators do not adhere to the Code of Practice and Schedule 3 about the requirement of special permits for any commercial film productions!

NZ GWS Tourism - more Trouble!

Mobile Shark cage - maybe a solution? Source.

Bingo.

And I cite.

11. In spite of the clear duty of care, the paua industry is currently incurring significant costs as a direct consequence of health and safety risks arising from shark tourism operations, as detailed in the attached case study. This suggests that the current legislative framework is not sufficient to ensure that the duty of care in section 16(1)(a) is :

• reflected in practice by businesses – for example, some shark tourism operators publicly display a cavalier attitude to the safety of others in the vicinity .
  A Stewart Island shark tourism operator, when asked if he would dive with great white sharks without a cage responded “ No that would be stupid! ...the answer is categorically the same each time – NO! ” and yet this operator is well aware that commercial paua divers and other marine users are frequently present (without the protection of a shark cage ) in the waters in the vicinity of his business.
  The same operator allowed a television host, deliberately posing as a vulnerable diver, to goad a great white shark into attacking the shark cage ;

Remember?

The Pāua divers are on the offensive and so far, they are winning.

So far, none of the NZ GWS Shark diving operators has been issued a license and research permits are being withheld. This is the direct consequence of a continued abject lack of outreach and education coupled with naive and greedy operators that have been goaded into those stupidities by the kings of Shark porn, ABC4 and Jeff Kurr.

And so it goes.

To be continued no doubt!

The Jackass!

I can't believe that shit is still on!

Anyway, here he is.

Behold the self-professed channeler, or whatever, of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey - with fitting introduction by Mr. Shark Porn himself!

Right.

So this is the message.

This disjointed new age clap trap by some retro hippie stoner adventurer, or whatever, is gonna make us finally understand and save the Sharks. This would be the visionary intellectual justification for illegal out-of-cage dives in Guadalupe, and for putting those credulous young people in harm's way.

Like I said, makes me wanna puke!

And ABC4 the great Shark pornographer?

Trust the man to never, ever disappoint!

Very much as anticipated, his recent incursion into NZ has fucked over the very people that have helped him go there in the first place. GWS diving in NZ is highly controversial, and his public boasting of illegal out-of-cage excursions, and the depiction of those GWS as particularly dangerous man eaters have further inflamed that conflict. 

Learning curve anybody?

And so it goes!

Stewart Island - troubled Waters!

Source.

Remember the controversy in Stewart Island?

Looks like matters have come to a boil.

Since writing this post, I've talked to several people in the know and it appears that there has been an abject lack of outreach and education by both the scientific and diving community. Apparently, research reveals that Stewart Island is a major seasonal aggregation spot for New Zealand's GWS that are believed to be mating there, meaning that the cage divers have followed the Sharks and not vice versa, and that any perceived increased risk is not attributable to them.

But that needs to be communicated - any takers?

After the season, the GWS disperse and many travel far north to Tonga, Fiji and New Caledonia (and here) meaning that during that time, the Pāua divers should be safe - and if so, wouldn't that be a starting point for an equitable compromise, as in agreeing on spatial (!) and seasonal, mutually exclusive closures for both activities?

Anyway.

Very much as anticipated, the imbeciles that got turned away from Guadalupe have relocated to NZ and are attempting to illegally exit the cages and flip a GWS there. Fingers crossed that the (other) naive operator that took the booking (undoubtedly, for the Sharks) will exert common sense and immediately stop the shenanigans - or you may as well kiss the industry goodbye once the footage airs.

As always, we shall see - and no, I'm not very hopeful!

To be continued no doubt!

NZ GWS Tourism - the Guidelines!

Source.

So here they are.

For the time being, they are only interim guidelines.

I must say that I like the approach as the authorities are not barging in unilaterally but instead trying to work cooperatively with the operators that get one further chance to do things right until a likely final review in 2015.

People in the know tell me that once they get enacted, the rules are likely to be part/condition of the permits (= you breach them, you lose the permit) rather than regulations, this also because this would allow for more flexibility and much easier enactment and/or changes.

I must say, I find them rather good.

Just this: how about some thoughts about best location(s), number of operators and possible rotation to avoid the all-too-common chumming wars, and amount and frequency of berleying. But the first two aspects may well be best legislated elsewhere - and anyway, I'm neither a GWS diver let alone operator and my specific know how is consequently limited.

So you commercial GWS folks out there - thoughts?

You can best e-mail any questions or suggestions to Kristina Hillock who reports to Marine Species and Threats Manager Ian Angus, the gentleman mentioned here. This is a great opportunity to contribute to getting it right from the get-go, so please do take the time to make some constructive comments.

Thank you!

NZ GWS Tourism - here come the Regulators!

Good advice, seldom heeded! Source.

Hmmmm...

Read this.

Looks like the controversy about those GWS dives has turned into outright confrontation, prompting the authorities to step in. I'm always wary about bureaucrats trying to regulate stuff they got no clue about - so fingers crossed that they don't try to reinvent the wheel but instead resort to the tried-and-tested, and rather good templates from South Africa and South Australia.

Looking forward to my sneak preview of the regs.

Hopefully they will also address this shit - conservationism indeed!

18-Foot GWS!

And it ROARS!

Finally!

Behold the PROOF that Sharknado is scientifically correct!

Which  brings me to a glaring omission in yesterday's list!

• Control you media.
  You got to carefully screen the productions you host - and be very wary of those ad hoc so-called experiments (and here!) that are inevitably total and utter crap!
  Especially those producers of Shark porn are very good at identifying the newbies who would do anything for the perceived fame and marketing advantages of being "featured" on Shark Week. Those productions are always a losing bet, and the operators are then left to clean up the mess long after those people have moved on to greener pastures.
  And then, there are all those customers with cameras that will gleefully post any mishaps to YouTube if not managed!

So what about the above.

Is this in any way conducive to allaying the reservations of the detractors - or instead, may Peter Scott just have foolishly handed them more anti Shark feeding ammunition on a golden platter?

NZ - does Shark Diving endanger the Public?

Source.

Have you seen this?

And I cite.

About 10 to 15kg of berley was used in a cage dive, he said, which was less likely to attract sharks than the half-tonne of offal dumped by commercial fishermen.

Fishing operators cleaning their catch at the entrance to Half Moon Bay were more likely to attract sharks into the harbour, he said.

Bingo.

Let me once again cite myself.

Fishermen do not only feed Sharks by presenting them baited hooks; many of them attract and often end up feeding Sharks when they drag in struggling fish and when they subsequently clean their catch and throw the scraps into the ocean. Spear fishermen are notorious for attracting, and even conditioning Sharks when they shoot fish and often find themselves embroiled in a competitive struggle over their prey. These people number in the hundreds of thousands and if anybody should be examined for possibly causing an increase of Shark attacks on the public, it should be them - not the few dozen operators conducting baited Shark dives!

Plus,

• Great Whites are fully protected in New Zealand.
  If that protection is to make any sense, one must assume that consequently, less adult GWS are being killed and that the juveniles and subadults have a better chance of reaching the stage where they switch from a fully piscivorous diet to seasonal preying on Pinnipeds. If so, the number of Sharks sighted in the vicinity of those Sea Lion colonies may well be on the increase. As Stewart Island is slowly being recolonized by New Zealand Sea Lions, its attractiveness for GWS may equally be on the rise.

• Shark feeding appears unproblematic at the ecosystem level
  All present research into those baited Shark dives appears to concur that those dives have little to no effect at large spatial and temporal scales. It appears pretty clear that far from becoming dependent on the handouts, those provisioned Sharks continue to fulfill their ecological roles and also continue to follow their normal life cycles as in e.g. mating, pupping and migrating.

• There's no correlation between Shark feeding and Shark strikes.
  Re-read this. In brief and with maybe the exception of SA, the vast majority of Shark strikes occurs in locations where there are no Shark feeding operations - which is even more surprising if one considers that most of those dives have been established in locations that are known for their healthy Shark populations!
  And even if there were some correlation, it certainly does not equate causation!

But of course there are some big caveats.

• There are certainly effects at small spatial and temporal scales.
  Shark feeding often aggregates the animals, and this can have local consequences. As an example, take the increased aggression of those Lemons in Moorea; or the observed competitive exclusion of other Sharks in Fiji and possibly SA and TB; or those postulated local behavioral changes and marginally increased residency in Southern Australia.

• Conditioning via positive reinforcement does likely happen.
  Those GWS are certainly smart and it is absolutely plausible to assume that they may have learned to associate the boat noise with a subsequent feeding opportunity - and with the food being presented at the surface, it as equally plausible to assume that they could be popping up next to other boats in the area!
  The assertion that they may be following the boats ashore is however likely to be humbug - provided, that is, that nobody throws bait overboard on the way home!

• Location matters.
  Many Shark dives have been being established where there are already Sharks, meaning that objectively speaking, the risk profile is unlikely to change - but perceptions matter and like in the case of population centers like, say, Cape Town or Playa, the diving activity and associated increased publicity of Sharks can lead to conflicts with the other local ocean users. Consequently, as a rule, the feeding locations need to be as remote as possible and should definitely not be established e.g. right in the middle of population centers or right in front of popular beaches etc.

• Feeding protocols.
  Like I often state, it is often not about the what but about the how.
  Shark provisioning creates its own risks, and those risks need to be managed - meaning that all protocols should be chosen in function of minimizing the impact on both the animals and the habitat, and on maximizing the safety for the participants but also the public. E.g., everybody will hopefully agree that creating humongous chum trails or dumping indiscriminate amounts of bait to create feeding frenzies is probably a bad idea. Or as another example, we here go to great lengths to condition the Bulls never to come to the surface, lest we get accused of endangering other aquatic recreationists.
  In brief, we need to be in a position to demonstrate that we are always striving to conduct our dives in the most responsible way possible.

And then, there's this

• Obtaining the required Social license and stakeholder involvement are crucial.
  The local stakeholders need to become an integral part of these projects - and this not only through regular awareness, education and consultations but also by letting them partake in the financial windfall, both indirectly but very much also directly. Only this will ensure crucial local support when the inevitable problems will arise.

• Get in the research.
  The best argument against many of the intuitively plausible reservations of our detractors are strong scientific data. As an example, when people got bitten by Bull Sharks in Cancun and everybody tried to blame the Shark feeding operations in Playa, the operators there had the data showing that they were only feeding females whereas the Bull Shark population in Cancun was only comprised of males. Or in our case, our Bull Shark data show conclusively that we are neither causing residency nor any dependency on our handouts, see above.

Long story short?

I ignore the precise circumstances of those cage dives in Stewart Island. Intuitively, I am inclined to assume that they are being conducted responsibly, and that the location is sufficiently remote.

But there appears to be a problem of perception.

If I am correct in speculating that the islands may be attracting more GWS, it follows that  the risk for the Pāua divers may be on the increase. With that in mind, it may be wise to engage in some preventative measures, as in increased dialogue and data sharing with the fishing community all the way to maybe helping fund protective gear like Shark shields etc. And it may also be smart to re-engage with the authorities and the stakeholders, and ensure their support by developing a code of practice everybody can agree with!

But again, I don't know the precise circumstances.

Maybe all of that has already happened, and the current blowback is merely some noise by troublemakers.

But if not, some of the above may be useful.

Good luck!

Very soon now!

Remember this?

Very sadly, Patric had to delay the unveiling of Oceania.
But I see that he's thankfully back on air and expect him to make the announcement very soon indeed.

And for the record, I still stick by my prediction: it is right "there" and as per the above picture, the site features Great Whites, Kelp - and obviously, plenty of Kekeno!