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Historically whale sharks have been slaughtered in large numbers when they visit the Gujarat coast,
India, between March-May. In the past 10 years this has increased considerably as a means of making quick money.
Official figures before 2001 reveal, every year, over 150 whale sharks are caught along the Gujarat coast. Independent figures, however, show this figure to be closer to 500.
Data supplied by the Shark Research Institute (SRI) helped
the Government ban the trade and fishing in May 2001 by placing the endangered fish in
schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. This has
reduced the number of whale sharks taken but legal protection is not enough as it is not possible to continuously police the state's large coastline. Awareness, therefore, is the only future key to
protect and conserve this endangered species.
The
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and
Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the Forest
Department of Gujarat, India, along with two big
corporate houses are joining hands to generate
awareness about whale sharks in villages along the
Gujarat coast. According to Aniruddha Mookerjee,
the Director of WTI Programmes, a recent survey
revealed that awareness regarding the whale shark
is low.
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The liver constitutes about 10% of the
body weight of the whale shark and can fetch up to Rs 25 (US$ 1) per Kg. The oil, which
constitutes about 60 to 70% of the liver is used for coating the
wooden hull of boats.
Photo: Mike Pandey, Riverbank Studios |
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The first step,
therefore, will be to create
general awareness among the locals and hopefully steer the fishermen towards whale shark tourism which
will earn them a handsome income while keeping the sharks alive. Poster
campaigns and major awareness drives in villages across the Gujarat coast are planned.
The Coast Guard has agreed to support the campaign by providing the Forestry Department of Gujarat with information on the
number of whale sharks spotted along the coastline, while ensuring they are not poached by the local fishermen. Speaking during the launch
of the Save the Whale Sharks Campaign in January 2004, the religious leader and the ambassador for the whale shark Morarji Bapu
said "the people should aim to protect these sharks as their children". The campaign is being funded by Tata Chemicals Ltd and Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd, which also have industrial units on the Gujarat coast. Whale sharks along with Asiatic lions should become the twin pride of Gujarat, asserted the chief wildlife
warden of Gujarat.
A senior forest official said, "While visual tagging and photo identification are being carried out in KwaZulu Natal (South Africa), southern Mozambique, Seychelles, Australia, Belize, Honduras, Mexico and Philippines, a small
measure to protect this endangered species has been taken by us. We would adopt these techniques at a later stage."
A
feasibility study recently completed
by SRI and two local Indian
conservation groups shows that the
whale sharks is still not out of
trouble. Apparently the
infrastructure to develop whale
shark tourism is lacking and there
are currently no dive operations
active in this area. It is hoped
that the current 'Save the Whale
Shark Campaign' can create
sufficient public awareness to
jump-start the necessary
development.
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