Fishermen release four whale sharks from nets

Whale sharks are not hunted in Pakistan; they used to be killed by fishermen when they got stuck in the nets.


Our Correspondent November 07, 2014

KARACHI:


Fishermen have recently released three endangered whale sharks into the offshore waters in the last week of October, The Express Tribune has learnt.


One of the specimen, an 18-foot whale shark, had become entangled in the fishermen’s tuna gillnet, near Gora Bari, around 73 kilometres south of Karachi on October 26. The fishermen immediately launched a rescue mission and freed the shark from the net on the same day.

Separately, two specimens, one of which was 10-feet-long and the other 14-feet-long, became entangled in fishing nets near Shumal Bunder, off Pasni on October 23. The fishermen managed to free them from the nets on the same day.

Fishermen also observed a young whale shark, estimated to be about 14-feet-long, near Ras Malan, Balochistan on October 22. The whale shark encircled the fishing boats for a while before disappearing into the sea, according to officials of the World Wide Fund for Nature - Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan).

“Four whale sharks have been released,” said Muhammad Moazzam Khan, the technical adviser on marine fisheries, explaining that the fishermen did not hurt the young whale shark that was passing near them.

“Although whale sharks are not protected in Pakistan, the fishing community considers them an important marine animal which may not be killed for the mere extraction of liver oil,” said WWF-P director Rab Nawaz.  He stressed the need to make appropriate legislation for the protection of whale sharks in Pakistan.

Nawaz pointed out that gillnet fishing in Pakistan was the major cause of high mortality of protected, endangered and threatened species such as whale sharks, turtles and dolphins. He suggested the government to devise a policy to discourage gillnet fishing in the country.

“Many countries, including Sri Lanka, have converted a large number of their boats to long lining which is considered much safer for threatened species,” he said. On the one hand, tuna gillnetting results in the reduction of by-catch of these important species while on the other, it increases fishermen’s income substantially.

Speaking about the release of the whale sharks, Khan said that whale shark hunting was quite popular in Pakistan until the 1970s, after which it was stopped. “Whale sharks are neither consumed in Pakistan nor is the meat exported,” he explained. “The fishermen used to extract the oil from its liver to smear the hull of the fishing boats to keep it smooth.”

Khan said that when the whale sharks get entangled in the nets, it struggles to get free and causes serious damage to the expensive fishing nets. “It usually damages the net which causes a big loss to the fishermen. They, therefore, used to kill these gentle giants in order to save their nets,” he explained. However, because of efforts of the WWF-P, which initiated an awareness campaign, the whale sharks are now seldom killed.

WWF-P officials said that the fishing nets were damaged during the operation but the fishermen released the entangled whale sharks, ensuring that they were not hurt in release operation. Pakistan’s coastal waters are considered an important breeding and basking ground for the whale sharks. Neonates, younger whale sharks and sub-adults are commonly found in the area.

The whale shark and its products are included in Appendix-II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), putting its export under strict regulatory control. Pakistan is a signatory to CITES and as such, whale sharks are not exported from Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2014.

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