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| An environmental activist releases a baby black-tip shark into the sea as part of an operation organized by the sharks protection group Dive Tribe off the coast of the southern Thai sea resort of Pattaya. (AFP Photo/Christophe Archambault) |
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Pattaya,
Thailand. Saved from the soup bowl at a Thai restaurant, the baby shark
wriggled out of the bag and into the open sea — a rare survivor of a trade that
kills millions of the predators each year.
On average
an estimated 22,000 metric tons of sharks are caught annually off Thailand for
their fins — a delicacy in Chinese cuisine once enjoyed only by the rich, but
now increasingly popular with the wealthier middle class.
Thanks to a
group of environmental activists calling themselves the Dive Tribe, dozens of
sharks were returned to the wild in the Gulf of Thailand recently, bought from
animal markets or restaurants.
Among them
were several young bamboo and black tip reef sharks which narrowly avoided
ending up as shark fin soup — prized in particular by the Chinese who believe
it boosts sexual potency.
Gwyn Mills,
founder of Dive Tribe, laments the fact that the plight of sharks is largely
overlooked compared to animals such as elephants and tigers.
He fears it
may be only five or 10 years before the damage is irreversible.
“We are
losing too many sharks. We can’t afford to take any more out of the ocean,”
Mills said.
Scientists
blame the practice of shark-finning — slicing off the fins of live animals and
then throwing them back in the water to die — for a worldwide collapse in
populations of the predators, which have been swimming since the time of the
dinosaurs.
The
maritime conservation group Oceana estimates that up to 73 million sharks are
finned each year around the world, depleting many populations by as much as 90
percent.
Although
the shark is portrayed as an insatiable man-eater in Steven Spielberg’s hit
1975 movie “Jaws,” naturalists say most species pose no danger to humans.
“Actually
attacks on people are rare,” said Jean-Christophe Thomas, a scuba instructor
involved in the shark release.
On
Saturday, 60 sharks left their temporary home at the “Underwater World”
aquarium in the Thai resort city of Pattaya in plastic bags filled with water.
Loaded onto a boat, they were released one by one back into the wild.
“I was
carrying the plastic bag and did not even notice when he left,” said Wayne
Phillips, a lecturer in marine ecology at Mahidol University.
“But I like
that. He was not given freedom. He took it. He was living in a tank, then in a
plastic bag. He’s better here.”
While the
release was a largely symbolic event designed to raise awareness, the stakes
are real.
Environmentalists
say that sharks, particularly the apex predators, play a vital role in the
marine ecosystem.
“So if we
protect the sharks, the rest of the reef will be protected,” Phillips said. “We
need to make people realize how important sharks are.”
Environmentalists
argue that sharks are slow to reproduce, making them unsuitable for commercial
fishing.
Some types
of shark species, including the great white and the hammerhead, are endangered,
threatened or vulnerable, according to the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature.
Some
countries are taking action.
The tiny
Pacific nation of Palau declared the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009,
prompting similar moves by the Maldives and Honduras.
Taiwan, one
of the world’s major shark catchers, is moving to tighten measures against
hunting the predator while the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island is
also seeking to ban shark fishing.
The members
of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) also
adopted a resolution in 1994 on shark conservation and management.
And in
1999, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization adopted an International Plan of
Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks.
But a
report by the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the Pew
Environmental Group released in January said not enough was being done to
implement that plan.
“International
concern about shark stocks continues to grow because of an increasing body of
evidence that many shark species are threatened and are continuing to decline
as a result of unregulated fishing”, it said.
Activists
believe the best hope of reversing the situation is to highlight the benefits
of sharks to the tourism industry.
The animals
are a major attraction for snorkelers and scuba divers, but it is increasingly
rare to see the creatures in the seas off Thailand.
Mills
argued that one reef shark is worth many times more to the tourist industry
than it would fetch in a restaurant. He thinks fishermen should be compensated
for releasing the sharks that get entangled in their nets.
While
swimming with sharks is a joy for many scuba divers and naturalists, for some
the shark remains a creature to be feared — an image unlikely to be helped by
the upcoming release of the Hollywood movie “Shark Night 3D.”
The film
tells the fictional story of a group of carefree teenagers killed off one by
one by hungry sharks in a salt lake in Louisiana.
According
to the International Shark Attack File, compiled at the University of Florida,
79 unprovoked shark attacks occurred around the world in 2010, six of which
were fatal. This was the highest number in a decade and an increase of 25
percent on 2009.
For Dive
Tribe and other shark lovers, the battle is only just beginning.
Agence France-Presse
