July 18, 2019 : 14th July is celebrated as Shark awareness day around the globe and aims to spread awareness on different species of sharks and their relevance to the ocean & humans at large. Sharks play an essential role in the world’s oceans ecosystems by maintaining a healthy balance in the food chain of composite marine life and regulate the ocean ecosystem. As predators, they shift the distribution of smaller fishes and thereby alter the feeding habits of other marine life. The disappearance of sharks would thus have a catastrophic impact on the underwater marine ecosystem as well as fisheries.

25% of shark species are currently listed as Endangered, Threatened or Near Threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since sharks and rays are generally slow to reproduce, the constant onslaught of threats, including shark finning, fisheries bycatch and other pressures to the ocean ecosystem are causing severe declines in populations that are already hard to monitor. Bycatch is the unintentional capture of a non-target species. Around 50% of sharks are caught unintentionally by fishing gear then thrown overboard dead or dying.

To celebrate this day WTI through local conservation organisations of the coastal areas of Maharashtra and Odisha took the opportunity to spread the knowledge and empathy towards the species. To approach their ongoing work with whale shark as an umbrella species for sharks, an event was planned in the Dronagiri High School of a fisher dominated ward, Karanja of the Raigad district of Maharashtra. The event was attended and supported by members from Karanja Machimar Vividh Karyakari Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. (v. k. s) Society Ltd and fisherman leader Ganesh Nakhwa and Hemant Gaurikar from the villages. The shark awareness programme saw the participation of almost 80 children and 50 community members from the nearby area. In Odisha, Shark Awareness Day was celebrated at Utkala, NOCCi, Balasore by, Association for Biodiversity Conservation and Research (ABC). The events on Shark Awareness Day started with awareness session on the importance of sharks, and their role in maintaining the balance in the marine ecosystem. Diversity of sharks, significance and their role in maintaining the balance in the marine ecosystem were a few topics discussed with the community. A painting competition on different shark species were conducted in Raigad district, Maharashtra and Balasore, Odisha. The Association for biodiversity conservation members and research conducted a discussion with different fisheries communities and trawler association at Balaramgadi on Shark diversity, threats to the species and how they can help by cutting the nets and letting the sharks live free in case of bycatch. This session was one of the vital steps as the trawlers and fisher communities are the primary stakeholders and sensitising them towards the issue in hand can bring a remarkable change. A hand-painting activity on the cloth was added to show their support towards the cause. In Odisha, almost 35 children, 20 fishers were sensitised through these activities.

Out of the approximately 160 species of Elasmobranchs in Indian waters, ten are protected legally. The term elasmobranch refers to cartilaginous fishes like sharks, rays, and skates. Out of the 10 legally protected Elasmobranchs, 4 are shark species. The first shark species (and consequently the first fish species) to ever be protected in India was the whale shark which was placed under the Schedule 1 species list of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, during the year 2001. In 2004, WTI, Tata Chemicals Limited, Gujarat Forest Department and International Fund for Animal Welfare initiated Whale Shark Conservation, Gujarat to address the extensive hunting of Whale Sharks across western India. Wildlife Trust of India, along with the fisher communities in Gujarat, address the conservation threats with sustainable fishing practices and also works towards capacity building of the locals turning them in to protectors of this species.

As a part of Whale Shark Conservation project in Gujarat, Shark Awareness Day was celebrated at College of Fisheries in the coastal city of Veraval with technical support from the regional centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). With participation of around 100 graduates of fisheries science, an awareness programme was organised by Wildlife Trust of India under the collaborative efforts of Whale Shark conservation project on Gujarat coast.

Dr. Divu Damodaran, Scientist-In-Charge of CMFRI Veraval Regional Centre was present on occasion and gave a brief note on the importance of the day and how sharks are the matter of concern for all of us. A quiz on shark awareness was conducted for the participants. It was interesting to test their knowledge of Sharks biology before the technical session. Following this, WTI presented a conservation success story of the Whale Sharks along the Gujarat coast.

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Shark awareness day celebrations at Veraval, Gujarat

A team of scientists from CMFRI led the technical presentation which included an overview of Sharks and their current status in the wild with the help of research analytical information by India’s oldest marine research institute. Posters were prepared by students on different shark species and presented parallel to the ongoing session. The hosting institution in-charge Dr Ashish Bhatt thanked the organising partners of the programme and acknowledged the efforts made by the Wildlife Trust of India and Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute of Veraval to celebrate the Shark Awareness day with the College of Fisheries in Veraval. All the participants were given a participation certificate as a token of gratitude.

WTI’s project Gujarat’s Whale Shark Conservation led up to 707 whale sharks rescued from fishing nets and safely released back (2005-2018) in the coast of Gujarat. In Kerala, a similar project, still in its nascent phase, has recorded the rescue and release of one Whale Shark from a fishing net entanglement incident.

Also see some picture updates from Odisha and Maharashtra.

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The program at Raigad, Maharashtra was organized by one of our RAP proponent, Mr Swapnil Tandel

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The program in Odisha was organized by Dr. Siddhartha Pati  from the Association For Biodiversity Conservation & Research