By Aniruddha Mookerjee

Veraval (Gujarat): Three years of a highly successful whale shark campaign today culminated in the government of Gujarat honouring 22 fishing boat owners, who had voluntarily released whale sharks accidentally caught in their nets in the past year.

The campaign, run by the Wildlife Trust of India and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, with support from the Tata Chemicals Ltd and the Gujarat Forest Department has resulted in 56 documented releases of whale sharks on the western Indian Gujarat coast where they migrate in winters from Africa.

“The number of documented releases are far less than the total number of releases,” Jeetubhai Kuvada, leader of the Kharwa community that controls the fishing business in this region said. “The only ones that are being documented are those reasonably close to the shore, there are many in the deep seas which go unreported,” he added.

Whale shark, the world’s largest fish, growing up to almost 50 feet in length, was upgraded to the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act in 2001 giving it the highest level of protection a species can get in this country.

The Tata Chemicals supported campaign, “which got all the stakeholders together and had the religious leader, Morari Bapu, as its ambassador, has created an international impact,” Pradip Khanna, the principal chief conservator of forests and the chief wildlife warden of Gujarat said.

The minister of state for forests, Kirit Rana, in a function that was attended by the member of parliament and other political leaders of the area, presented the boat owners with cheques that compensated them for the loss of nets. The amounts varied from Rs. 8000 to 25,000 depending on the quantum of loss suffered by the boat owner. He praised the Kharwa community for taking the lead in releasing the fish voluntarily.

However, Mr Kuvada had earlier pointed out that the amount being given was not enough to cover the costs of the nets. “What makes it worse is that the cheques are issued quite late so that the fisher folk have to tide over by taking loans which makes the whole process more expensive for them. Sometimes the boat-owner has to wait almost a year before being paid,” he said.

“You should really not take this as compensation, but an honour. Just like a farmer makes an effort to enrich the soil that he tills, you should consider this your contribution to your resource base,” Mr Khanna said.

As a result of the three year campaign the Kharwa community, which controls the fishing business along the Gujarat coast has stopped hunting the whale shark completely, although there are unconfirmed reports that the fish is still being harpooned in high seas.

The involvement of the community can be gauged by the fact that a whale shark inflatable model became a show piece at their traditional annual event where the community comes together to mark the birth anniversary of Ramdev Maharaj, their deity. The event marks the beginning of a new fishing season as celebrations carry on through the night and a procession carries an idol of the deity the next day.

For the first time, members of the Kharva community insisted that the life-sized model of the whale shark be a part of the procession from the community hall at Veraval to the Jaleshwar Temple along with the idol of Ramdev Maharaj.

The model had first been displayed at Mithapur, another fishing town on the Gujarat coast, where Tata Chemicals Ltd has its salt plant, as part of a campaign to save the whale shark and had become an instant hit.

The campaign owes a lot of its success to popular spiritual leader, Morari Bapu who formally launched it in Gujarat as an ambassador for the whale shark. Morari Bapu likened the whale shark visiting the shores of Gujarat, to a daughter visiting her parents and said, “it is indeed sad that fishermen hunt this gentle giant instead of protecting it.”

When asked why the Kharvas wanted the whale shark to be part of their religious celebration, Jeetubhai Kuvada, the head of the community had said, “This fish is like our daughter. Morari Bapu has made her our daughter and we would like our daughter to be a part of our celebration.”

Early last year, the forest minister, Mangubhai Patel, announced the “Kartak Amas” as the official date for the Whale Shark Day, to be celebrated every year in Gujarat. The declaration was made by the minister in front of thousands of people from the Kharva community during the Whale Shark Vhali Utsav 2007.

“The success of this internationally-acclaimed project can largely be attributed to the tremendous support received from the fishing community; equally Morari Bapu’s appeal contributed in generating this wide support. The Forest Department’s announcement of compensation for damaged fishing nets was another strengthening factor,” said Dhiresh Joshi, coordinator, Wildlife Trust of India.

Milestones of the Whale Shark Awareness Campaign

1. The fish was brought under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act in 2001, after the documentary “Shores of Silence” by Mike Pandey highlighted the plight of the fish in India.
2. The following year, due to the persistent efforts by India and Philippines, the fish was included in the Appendix II of the CITES, which gave protection to the fish worldwide.
3. For the first time on December 25, 2006, government announced compensation for fishermen to boost their confidence (whose nets were destroyed for rescue of the whale shark).
4. The Campaign was jointly launched by WTI, IFAW, TCL, Forest Department and Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd. in the year 2004.
5. Morari Bapu, famous for his religious discourses, launched the campaign, and called Vhali, the Whale Shark, a daughter of the fisherfolk.

The writer is Senior Director, Wildlife Trust of India

Photos : Gujarat Forest Department (top), Aniruddha Mookerjee/WTI(middle), Anand/Vidyanagar Nature Club