Treating Sharks like Pests - Paper!

Source.

This is awesome.

In the past, I've not been kind to Steven Campana.

Back then he was working for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and was very much trotting the party line - voluntarily or more likely not.

Now he's in Iceland.

And there has obviously been a remarkable evolution, as witnessed by his blistering attack on the unsustainable fishing practices in the North Atlantic and especially, on the responsible irresponsible transnational management agency ICCAT.

And yes thank you Japan!

Full paper here, synopsis here.

Required reading for everybody!

Sharks in Fiji - Status Report!

Blacktip Reef Shark - one of the species that is increasingly being targeted for food. 
Stellar pic by Ozzie Sam!

So what about Helen's report.

And I cite

So far no significant decrease in coastal shark populations has been seen, good news for those of us fearing that shark-fin fishing was continuing to damage shark stocks, but we can only confirm this one way or the other by continuing these surveys over the long term.

Yes and no!

But first, watch Eli's video!

Bravo Eli, totally agree!

See what I mean?

This is obviously Mexico where the situation appears particularly grim - but having conducted additional investigations that will be disclosed in due course, I can reveal that the situation here in Fiji is slowly trending that way, too. 

Here and throughout the Pacific Islands, coastal fisheries are at risk. 

Much of the fishing is clearly unsustainable and as a consequence, many of the prized big reef Fishes have disappeared at least around the principal islands, or have become simply too expensive - and the once reviled Sharks are being increasingly fished and consumed as an alternative source of protein. Furthermore, Sea Cucumber stocks have all but collapsed, to the point that a single White Teatfish now yields a staggering 150 dollars, notabene to the fisherman - and as a consequence, the traders are diversifying into Shark fins and further driving the depletion of both Sharks but also Guitarfishes whose fins have a high count of ceratotrichia, the ingredient of the infamous soup.

Yes stocks overall show no signs of depletion - yet.

But they do in selected hotspots, and on our dive, we are recording the disappearance of many of our named Shark. So far, numbers-wise, they are being replaced by the many new sub-adults - and incidentally, remember Catlin et al! 

But if I go through the list, old beloved regulars like Kinky, Cilla, Fold, Second, Valerie, Lee, Crease, Twist, possibly Sickle, Moana, Ms Big, Jaws, JJ, Chopper and probably also Scarface have all been MIA for a long time indeed which is really breaking our heart - so you can maybe understand my elation at seeing Bumphead after close to a year of absence!

Solutions?

Obviously, a drastic improvement of the management of all fisheries (= even if we selectively protected the Sharks, how would they survive without their prey?) - for which we need better data!
This combined with much better regulation of the trade - the more since at present, it is not even being regulated by Fisheries but instead, only by the local municipalities! And please, more fully legislated, well enforced and smartly managed full no-take MPAs with sufficient connectivity so that their effect is bigger than the sum of their physical areas, together with the protection of critical habitat like the nurseries and spawning aggregation sites.

And the oceanic Sharks?

There the situation in Fiji is much much better!

Thanks to the remarkable progress and the hard work of many good people at CITES, CMS and the WCPFC, all the principal commercially viable oceanic Sharks with exception of the Blues and Makos are de facto fully protected as Fiji cannot be bothered with all that paperwork and has decided to simply prohibit the fishing, landing and trading of those species. But of course implementation may still be somewhat sketchy, and the important issue of incidental mortality remains largely unresolved.

Solutions?

Possibly better implementation, certainly once again better regulation of the trade and once again, data data data about that incidental mortality!

Long story short?

Fiji's Sharks are still doing relatively well and no, we certainly don't need a Sanctuary that is IMO presently not feasible politically anyway. And we definitely (!) need no more breathy public campaigns and no more trotting out of the usual charlatans that will only piss off the powers that be, the more as they are very much aware of, and are presently actively addressing the problems at hand.

There is no urgent Shark crisis in Fiji - so, let's do things right.

What we do need is sufficient resources in order to assist the Fisheries Department, Customs, Biosecurity, the Police, the Judiciary etc in better implementing the present legislation; what we do need is a new coastal fisheries law that includes smart management strategies; what we do need is new regulation of the trade in marine products; and in the specific case of Sharks, what we do need is better data so we can preempt and intervene when and if necessary.

Any takers for lending a helping hand?

Ila vs David - big Kerfuffle!

Totally uncool - monster tournaments. Source.

Oh my.

Whilst I was away, the shit has hit the fan.

And yes, having been asked and after much deliberation, I'm gonna wade right in - and I may add, with much trepidation! :)

But first.

Please read David and Neil's paper about recreational Shark fishing in Florida. At the time, I did applaud it as the way I read it then, it aims at promoting catch-and-release as a more benign alternative to (lethal) trophy fishing.

After having re-read it, I stand by that judgment.

But of course, there is a big BUT - and here's where Ila comes in!

You must now read her op-ed - not this censored edited version but the original that includes the contentious assertions about the paper and its authors.

You can find it (after a toothy intro) right here.

The reaction was of course immediate.

David did post this and his interventions with Live Science did lead to the abovementioned editing - and totally unsurprisingly, things have since escalated. The usual tribalism is king and there is now a David camp vociferating against the Ila camp and vice versa, and what could have been an interesting discussion has long become irrational and personalized and is really benefiting no-one anymore.

My take?

From what I can discern, the question about whether Fish in general and Sharks in particular feel pain remains largely unresolved, with both camps being able to cite scientific literature in support of their viewpoint - but do those minutiae really matter in the present case?

Whether it is "pain" like we perceive it (from what I can observe, probably not) or another sense of acute discomfort, it is pretty much evident that being hooked is certainly a traumatic event that will always have negative consequences for the Sharks. Even if the animals are being released, some of the consequences will be transient and some will be more permanent and possibly debilitating - but a considerable percentage of the Sharks will die, and this depending on a whole array of variables ranging from the fishing technique to the length of the fight to the handling of the animal to the Sharks' species-specific resilience, etc etc. 

With that in mind, the topic of catch-and-release fishing for Sharks touches on animal welfare all the way to Shark conservation and on that, I'm 100% with Ila in stating that it is certainly never "good".

But here's where I differ - reluctantly!

I am a recreational fisherman. Although I strictly fish for food, and this only for non-threatened species, I'm not gonna try to deflect and obfuscate and state clearly that I certainly do so principally for the thrill and the challenge. I understand that this will disappoint some purists, but this is how it is. I could also add that for obvious reasons (= I love Sharks and yes, they are not Trout!) and because technically, Shark fishing sucks, I'm totally against targeting Sharks - but that's not the point.

The point is that there is thousands upon thousands of people like me. The point is that in this real world we live in as opposed to some idealistic but equally unrealistic utopia, they constitute an economically important, powerful and well organized force whereby if we really want to further the cause of Shark conservation among the recreational fishermen, we must learn to work with and not against them - re-read this.

Again: reluctantly - but that's the only viable strategy!

David and Neil know that.

I've now followed them for many a year and there has been considerable evolution - incidentally, like with yours truly, read these posts bottom-to-top! The net result of their efforts and those of many other equally evolving Shark conservation advocates has been, among others, the reforming of several kill tournaments, the establishment of the Shark Free Marinas Initiative (again, read bottom-to-top), the adoption of length- instead of weight records by the land-based Shark fishermen, etc - by no means perfect but still a notable step in the right direction. 

With that in mind and like their recent paper against weight records, the chastised article is not proof of their affiliation to nefarious fishing interests like asserted but rather, a testament to David and Neil's advocacy of positive, albeit (only) gradual and organic reform!

And one last thought if I may.

Whereas the Hammerschlag labs are simply brilliant in their outreach, they continue to fail quite miserably in handling critique, be it ever so benign. Guys, in the softest possible way: if you publicly circulate your research in the mass- and social media, you must a) develop a better strategy for dealing with the inevitable, equally public and possibly unsubstantiated criticism and b) develop a thicker skin - and I can certainly spare myself the examples as I'm sure you understand!

Or not? :)

End of wading!

Comments policy: read this! :)

PS - Martin here!
PPS - David's final comments here!
 

Recreational Shark Fishing in Florida - Paper!

Watch.

Nice.

I like research with immediate implications for conservation!:)

Good to see that most operators care and practice catch-and-release - now they only need to be educated to keep off those Hammers!

Paper here, synopsis here.

Only Bycatch - Two!

Turns out that the Tuna longliners have been, gasp, lying!

You don't say!

Did it really take a "study" to confirm what had been obvious all along and what we here in Fiji had known for years?

Anyway.

Good that now, it is out in the open - and good that the FFA wants to bring it up and have it banned at the next WCPFC meeting. There will undoubtedly be the usual dirty politics and stalling (responsible fishing nations?) but eventually, this will be resolved - undoubtedly, only to be replaced by new shenanigans!

And so it goes!

Shark Tagging in Fiji - a big fat Bust!

Tiny Silvertip - source.

Watch this.

Yes there are Sharks - but that's the SRMR.

Bless Jess for her valiant effort to pick up the turd by the clean end. But those are accomplished Shark fishermen that would have surely caught more Sharks - if only there had been any!

Long story short?
This is additional evidence that the state of our pelagic Sharks is dire indeed.

Alas, totally not surprised.

To be continued no doubt!
 

Shark Slaughter in Indonesia!

Source - read it!

Watch.

Indonesia has the world's largest Shark fishery.

Details here and here. Although there has been some fantastic progress (and here!), progress is excruciatingly slow, enforcement extremely difficult - and there are some totally unexpected consequences.

This is the real world - not one of those lofty utopias.

Welcome to the developing world.

More Simians on the Rocks!

 Source

Remember?

He got sentenced in February.

Quite obviously, the message has not been heard loud enough - but then again, there will always be some irreducible idiots doing these things and tainting the image of the entire fishing community in the process.

Story and names here.

Playa - it's complicated!

Many of the Bulls that are being caught in Playa are pregnant females. Source.

This is the situation on the ground.

There are no easy solutions here.

I still believe that this may be a start - but of course that's only the theory, and translating those lofty goals into practice may well turn out to be impossible. People are people and egos are egos - and with I hear dozens of more or less specialized, more or less knowledgeable and more or less conservation-oriented Shark viewing operators competing over those Shark tourism dollars, generating that all important solidarity within the industry is likely to be a monumental challenge.

But then again, nobody said it was gonna be easy - right? :)

Anyway, please watch it.

Great job, kudos!

Australia - Paradigm Shift?

Shocking - GBRMPA assessment by the Australian Government.

Excellent!

And I cite.

We argue that users of shark resources should be responsible for demonstrating that a fishery is sustainable before exploitation is allowed to commence or continue. This fundamental change in management principle will safeguard against stock collapses that have characterised many shark fisheries.

I must say that I'm positively elated.

It's obviously only a recommendation and by no means what is being done in practice - yet! 

But like I've said here and continue to preach, we need to discuss this and hopefully, people will start considering and even implementing it - and having it mentioned in a scientific paper is simply fantastic!

I'm convinced that it's the fairest and most effective solution that will ultimately benefit everybody in the long term: the governments that will not anymore have to allocate all those resources to data collection but can divert them to monitoring, enforcement and prosecution; the fishermen that will stop fishing themselves into extinction; and of course also the species that are currently being overfished!

Great stuff - kudos!

PS - I just got myself the paper, and this is what it says.

Conclusions 

Progress is being made in understanding the distribution, mobility, genetics and population structure of exploited sharks in the GBRMP. 

However, we argue that in poorly understood multi-species fisheries, the burden of proof needs to be reversed. The current situation is ‘‘business as usual’’ until a problem can be found (e.g. declining abundance). However, given the global declines of most shark species, extractive activities should not proceed until it is proven that exploited populations and/or associated ecosystem components are not harmed, or are minimally harmed relative to the social and economic benefits derived from them. 

Sharks are worthy of stricter management because (1) mounting evidence suggests that some sharks are keystone species that regulate community structure and contribute to ecosystem resilience, and (2) their intrinsic characteristics (e.g. K selection) predispose them to over-exploitation. 

A key challenge for the future is to convince the public and policy makers that the need for shark conservation is both beneficial and urgent.

Brilliant!

Eli: well said - again!

Kesennuma - this is a local fishery and thus not covered by CITES unless the products get sold abroad, and these Sharks have not been finned - source.

Please read this post by Eli.

He is of course correct.

The problem for Sharks is not finning that is essentially a (valid) animal welfare but not a conservation issue - the animals are increasingly being landed whole for processing, and the problem is thus primarily overfishing coupled with all the other issues effecting marine biodiversity. And faced with realities on the ground, the principal one obviously being human overpopulation, the ultimate solution can only consist in advocating sustainability as prohibition is not rational and will simply not fly.

Watch his video - he knows what he's talking about.

And yes conservation has to happen locally.

CITES listing is great and will undoubtedly have an effect on IUU by requiring the establishment of a transparent paper trail - but it needs to be flanked by adequately defined, legislated, implemented and enforced management plans at the national and supranational level.

And if done smartly, enforcement may be easier and cheaper than generally assumed..

Tourism?

Alas, projects like ours (thanks for the h/t!) will always remain small-scale and not resolve the big issues. But at the local level, they do make a huge difference - economically but especially, for those individual Sharks whose lives are being spared!

As a very tangible example, the Fiji Shark Corridor and the MPAs and dive sites within its reach are currently the only bulwark against the observed drastic increase in coastal Shark fishing after government did announce that it was not going to implement the Shark Sanctuary.

Anyway, bravo Eli - keep those thoughts coming!

South Africa: Simian convicted!

Guess the moron aint feeling like hanging loose now!

Remember?

Well, he ultimately got what he deserved.

Once again, thanks and kudos to Oceans Research for having broken the story and pursued the matter!

 

Shark eats Shark!

Click for detail!

Hmmm...
A GW eating a smaller GW like the story wants us to believe?

Don't think so!
Maybe a Blue (= long pec, heterocercal tail) eating a small species like a Tope?

Opinions?

Playa - more dead Sharks?

It just never stops does it.

Check out these pics - and these!

From what I can understand, these are fishermen from Puerto Morelos, half way between Playa and Cancun, and they may, or may not be sneaking over at night to capture those big pregnant Bull Sharks that visit Playa during the pupping (and diving) season. Apparently, they dispose of the relevant fishing permits (but not for Playa!), making this legal - but certainly not right!

Solutions?

There has been a national and international outcry, and there is a petition. 

Good luck with that.

My call, granted without disposing of the full picture.

Our Fiji Shark Project hinges on compensating the local stakeholders and thus making conservation more lucrative than fishing - and it clearly does work.
With that in mind, here's what I would do - already hinted at in this post.

• Get the Shark dive operators to work together - yes I know, that's a long shot. And if that's not possible, assume leadership and do it solo. The others will follow due to competitive pressure, like the guys down the road were forced to follow after we established the SRMR.

• Establish a Shark dive levy of USD 20.00/pp/pd on top of the regular price for the Shark dive. Divers love paying for conservation, so that should be easy.

• Disburse those funds to the fishermen (not the authorities), ideally earmarked for something concerning their families, like e.g. children's tuition, etc.

• In exchange, obtain an agreement about a seasonal fishing ban for the critical habitats involving a) a ban on targeted Shark fishing and b) a ban on gear that is likely to result in Shark bycatch e.g. gill nets, wire leaders, very strong fishing lines etc.
  This is much easier than trying to establish a year-round Sanctuary or MPA, the more as it can initially be merely a private agreement with the local fishermen thus not requiring legislation that is always a tedious process. But do aim to get some legislation confirming the above in the long run, if only at the municipal/local level. Having established a track record of cooperation will certainly help!

• Establish patrols - maybe even involving the fishermen that could be paid from the Shark levy. On top of that, maybe the staff of the Shark diving operators can be deputized like we've done here - remember that apart from the conservation aspects, you would be defending your own business assets!

• Bring in the research in order to get the data for further refining the process.

Just my two cents as always.
Wishing you the very best of success - and if you want to discuss, you know how to reach me!

Cristina and the Soup!

 Bella foto! :)

It really looks like Cristina can do no wrong.

Whenever I go snooping on one of her two Facebook pages, I'm continuously amazed at the seemingly unconditional love of her fans who will applaud whatever she does or says, and this apparently regardless of the content or context.

Good on her, she has certainly earned it.

So here's to Cristina and her fans.

But above all, here's to her fans taking the time to really understand, and then heed the lessons of her latest post on the website of Shark Savers. Indeed, unless properly educated, most people will never understand why Sharks are different from other Fish - and yes, in order to be accepted and thus lead to positive results, that education needs to come from people who understand and respect the specific circumstances and cultural framework they are operating in.
Well said as always, brava!

And you certainly don't have to look as far as Asia.

I'm quite sure that this article will ignite the usual firestorm, the more as the author appears to be fully aware of the conservation status of Tigers, which is Near Threatened.
But repugnant as killing and eating Tiger Sharks may be to me and hopefully most of the readers of this post, let's also be clear about the fact that with the exception of Florida, catching and killing Tiger Sharks in the USA is perfectly legal, likely because the authorities tasked with managing the fishery deem that it is sustainable. After all, Near Threatened means Not Threatened and from what I hear, Tigers are among those Sharks whose US populations are apparently very much recovering (but beware of shifting baselines!) after much better Shark management measures have been put into place.

But the conservation status is obviously not the whole story.
As Neil writes, the meat is full of urea and also, like the meat of many large predatory Fishes, it contains methylmercury, making it only partly suitable for human consumption - but that's not a conservation issue, that's a matter of public health and as such, it falls within the authority of the FDA that so far is however limiting its advisory to pregnant women and children only.

Long story short?
I love Sharks and would personally never, ever kill one - but once again, that's merely a personal stance that got nothing to do with conservation.
Like it or not, the fact is that in the real world, the vast majority of people do want to consume protein including seafood - even, at least in my experience, the vast majority of divers who will vehemently campaign for marine conservation but then order Fish and Lobster for dinner!
And as long as that's the case, I remain of the firm conviction that sustainable wildlife extraction has to be part of the mix - and this very much including the sustainable fishing for Sharks!
This at least in theory: when it comes to the practice, it remains highly questionable whether achieving true sustainability is even possible - certification or no certification!

Talking of which - whatever happened to this stupidity?
And does anybody know whether the vociferous Ms Reed has ever come true on her proud announcement that she would be saving sharks in the USVI? No Fin no Sharks no Future, or whatever - right?
Just asking! :)

But I'm clearly digressing as usual.
Enjoy Cristina's post!

Empty Seas!

Got no time for writing lengthy posts right now.
Thankfully, there's plenty of other good Sharky stuff out there.

Case in point, this post by CJA Bradshaw.
Cory is one of the foremost thinkers in Conservation, and a brilliant blogger to boot. Please do take the time to explore the links, and the links contained therein. It's the disheartening saga of how Indonesia is annihilating its Elasmobranchs - and having personally witnessed the shocking decline I may add: all other Fishes as well, small and big alike!
This has led to the rise of poaching along Australia's Northern coast and with South-East Asian fisheries in general not being far behind, these developments are the likely driver of the rise of Shark fishing in the Pacific, Latin America and possibly even Africa.

Indeed: holy f&%k!

Killing Sharks in Fiji!

Dead or dying Tiger Shark, note the everted stomach due to gut hooking - probably Malolo, April 25, 2012

Big Sharks are being killed in Fiji.

It's irrelevant who does it.
Right now, it's perfectly legal and singling out one person will not be helpful. Later on, the Mamanuca Environmental Society may want to go talk to him.

But the Fiji Shark Sanctuary cannot come soon enough.
Fingers crossed!

Tiger + Bull Shark jaws, another Tiger jaw in the background - January 5, 2012

H/T: Lill.

Posters for Baja!

Good stuff!

From an e-mail by Dr. José Leonardo Castillo-Geniz
Investigador Titular "C", Programa Tiburón, Centro Regional de Investigación Pesquera de Ensenada, B.C., Instituto Nacional de la Pesca (INAPESCA), carr. Tijuana-Ensenada km 97.5, El Sauzal de Rodríguez, C.P. 22760, Ensenada, B.C., México

Just to inform us about the informative campaign (posters) of the legal protection status of the white shark in Mexican Waters that is going without problems, with the support of the technical staff of the National Fisheries Institute of Mexico (INAPESCA).
I share sore photographs of it from the fishery camps of the west coast of BC.
I express my sincere thanks for the invaluable support of Pam Baker EDF, Fernando Aguilar Club Cantamar, Juan Carlos Cantu of Defenders of Wildlife Mexico and my good friend Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla.

Well, better late than never!
What I suggested, rather facetiously in 2010 has now eventuated.
GW researcher Mauricio Hoyos and others are distributing posters throughout Baja in order to educate the local fishermen that Great Whites are protected and should not be targeted.

Love love love this pic! :)

All awareness is good - but will it help in this specific case?
Baja is the scene of a daily carnage of Elasmobranchs, among which GWs - but contrary to recent alarmist reports, this is not a targeted fishery for GWs, not for the fins nor for the jaws. Those GWs are mostly sub-adults, juveniles and YOYs that are being caught incidentally when generally fishing for Sharks, and even the adult GWs that have recently been reported from the Sea of Cortez have not been caught intentionally but were found drowned in nets.

If you think about it, this is only logical.
Whereas I now think that this number is suspect, Great Whites do sit very much at the top of the food pyramid and are thus rare by definition, with the global population probably only numbering somewhere in the tens of thousands - and thus, trying to establish a targeted fishery that would be trying to find them in the vastness of their global range would be commercially suicidal.
Of course this is not the whole story as recent tracking studies has revealed migratory highways and hotspots - but under the caveat that the most prominent hotspots like e.g. Guadalupe need to be strictly protected, it is never the less true that a targeted fishery makes no commercial sense whatsoever.

But if most catches are only incidental, will educating the fishermen help?
Domeier mentions a 3-month general shark fishing ban which is actually the correct measure when trying to limit incidental catches. It is likely the result of this fiasco and although it is far from being the announced moratorium, it is certainly a step in the right direction.

That is, if only it were respected and enforced!
Apparently neither is the case - and with that in mind, the poster initiative may indeed be of help insofar as it might prompt some fishermen to release at least those GWs that would be still alive.

The good news?
More and more young GWs being caught are probably an indication that the measures protecting the Sharks but also their mammalian prey are slowly having a positive effect - this not only the in the Eastern Pacific and in the Western Atlantic where sightings are on the increase, but also in Australia and South Africa.

Yes as always it is complicated! :)

Bad News from Chumphon Pinnacle!

That was then - likely a juvenile Bull Shark on Chumphon Pinnacle

Remember the pink website of Robin and Richard?

Alas, this may well be a thing of the past.
I just stumbled across this depressing blog post informing us that the Sharks have basically disappeared. I've never dived there but learn that Chumphon Pinnacle was one of the Gulf of Thailand's best dive sites, with the regular sighting of those Sharks being the big drawing card. Now the apparently still ongoing debate about the species will never be resolved - although I assert that the animals depicted are certainly not (!) Grey Reefs but very likely juvenile Bulls or alternatively, the very similar Pigeye Sharks that feature equally broad and slightly falcate first dorsal fins.

All very sad and alas, so very typical. :(
Or may it be as trivial as the Sharks having gone somewhere else due to the increased popularity and thus, the increased disturbance by divers?

The Consultation - Report!

These Sharks are worth millions - great pic by Andrej Narchuk.

Interesting article about the consultation.

My thoughts on the matter in general are here.
In brief

• The local fishing industry is a vital component of Fiji's economy and it is extremely important that it be protected and kept vibrant. The blanket criticism of the fishing sector is unbecoming.
  


• For the industry to survive, it must focus on sustainability which presently means that they should probably catch less. Full sustainability also mandates bycatch mitigation.
  


• They can however compensate for the loss in volume by having the fishery certified like that of the PNA, as consumers will pay a premium for sustainably caught fish.


• After the recent fiasco at the last WCPFC meeting, I'm incresingly of the opinion that we should follow the example of the PNA and stop allowing distant nations to interfere with the management of the Pacific fish stocks - hell, were it for me I would also stop giving fishing licenses to those foreign fleets and have those nations buy the Fiji-caught Tuna from the Fijian processing plants!


• Leave those Sharks alone. At current depletion rates, this is at best a short-term fad and will certainly not save the Tuna industry. Catching them is completely unsustainable and the depletion of Shark stocks has wide ranging and largely irreversible consequences for the fishing sector as a whole but also, for tourism and the nation's overall ecological and cultural integrity. Of interest, Mr. Lagibalavu is a representative of the Bêche-de-mer industry that is wreaking havoc on our coastal Sharks.


• I would certainly not oppose (read the link before you get angry!) an independently certified sustainable food fishery for Sharks - however only once stocks have recovered and only if fully sustainable.
  

Here's to Government doing the right thing real soon!