Eco-tourists horrified by shark catch

Helen Bamford www.iol.co.za 23 Aug 08;

Eco-tourists who dive with sharks off Miller's Point are up in arms after being confronted by the sight of fishermen offloading tons of dead sharks from boats awash with blood.

Many of the divers are international tourists who travel to South Africa specially to see sharks, which have been wiped out in other parts of the world.

Mike Nortje, owner of Pisces Divers, says his clients were horrified to return from a dive only to see fishermen offloading shark carcasses on to bakkies not more than 50 metres away.

The dive operators share the slipway with commercial fishermen and pleasure boats.

Gemma Pellet, master scuba diver trainer, said the fishermen went out of their way to upset the tourists by joking about the dead sharks.

"They know it aggravates us so they stick gaffs in them and drag them around."

Nortje said the commercial value of having sharks at dive sites was worth far more than their being caught.

According to Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network, the bulk of the demersal or bottom-dwelling sharks caught in South Africa as by-catch are exported to Australia for fish and chips.

But Tony Trimmel of the Kalk Bay Boat Owners' Association said commercial fishermen targeted sharks only when lucrative species like yellowtail and snoek were unavailable.

"They don't target sharks on a daily basis but they have to make a living."

This season had been one of the bleakest fishing seasons for a number of years and daily running costs of the fishing boats had increased dramatically due to fuel hikes.

Trimmel said he could understand the concern from an eco-tourism perspective.

"Unfortunately there are sensitive people out there but a living has to be made."

Lesley Rochat, founder of the AfriOceans Conservation Alliance, said they did not have direct issues with the shark fishers but with Marine and Coastal Management's lack of adequate management and compliance in relation to shark fisheries in general.

False Bay was a white shark hotspot, attracting millions of rands of revenue from film crews, tourists and divers.

White sharks were protected, but other species such as the prehistoric-looking seven gill cowsharks, were targeted by fishers.

"Naturally divers get upset when after enjoying a passive interaction with sharks, they see a boat full of dead sharks at the same slipway they launch from.

"This is not good business for the eco-tourism industry."

Rochat said sharks played a vital role in maintaining the delicate balance of marine ecosystems and if the oceans were purged of them it would have severe repercussions for the millions of people who depend upon the oceans for their food supply.

At present it appeared sharks were a "free for all" and that MCM needed to put more money and effort into research.

"At the same time we cannot wait years for the results of the research as there will be hardly any sharks left by then.

"We therefore urge a precautionary approach applied to shark fisheries where data is lacking."

Monty Guest, chairman of diving and marine conservation organisation Underwater Africa, said the sharks were being caught in what was supposed to be a marine protected area, yet there was very little protection happening.

He said law enforcement officials were too frightened to confront fishermen in case they got aggressive but were happy to hassle divers over permits.

Carol Moses of MCM said both recreational and commercial fishers were allowed to catch sharks except for great whites, basking and whale sharks.

"So they are not doing anything illegal."

Divers and fishers needed to co-exist, she said.

With regard to the managment of sharks, Moses said if they found out certain species were threatened they would put measures in place to protect them.