Shark sanctuary campaigner calls for effort to preserve Pacific ecosystem
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E-mail Xinhua, January 16, 2013
The rules banning the sale, targeting, trade and possession of sharks aboard all commercial fishing or trans-shipment vessels within the Cook Islands EEZ were strongly opposed by foreign commercial fishing interests, said Lyon.
"Our local pelagic fishing companies support shark protection and have been a great source of information for us," he said.
"The pressure from foreign interests went unseen, but not unfelt by us. Therefore, it was very hard to pinpoint where, when and how their pressure was exerted. However, if it were not for the barriers put up by a few, this achievement would have happened a lot earlier."
The PICI countered with a grassroots campaign, including a petition, letters to the government and consultations with each community aimed at educating local people, who already had a culture of respecting sharks as "guardians," he said.
"Like most of the international community, many local Cook Islanders had a duality when they thought about sharks. They saw them as dangerous animals, not to be approached, but also saw them as part of their culture and of the ecosystem," said Lyon.
"Most concerns voiced were from community-based fishermen," he said.
"It was actually quite touching to see these men express their frustration at sharks, who can be considered pests when they take tuna from their lines, but then support shark protection, as they see the shark has a place in the sea."
Of the 18 recorded shark species in Cook Islands waters, 13 are listed as threatened, and five as endangered or vulnerable.
Sharks most at risk were the endangered scalloped hammerhead, which had suffered a 90-percent drop in numbers in recent years, along with pelagic sharks such as the oceanic white tip, mako species, thresher species, blue shark and the silky shark, which fed in similar zones to tuna.
Catch rates of sharks could be reduced by using specific fishing gear, and the regulations would be enforced through existing fisheries management, including observer coverage at ports of discharge, onboard observers, log sheet monitoring and surveillance operations by the Cook Islands and neighboring countries.
"Any effort that increases the transparency of on-board operations, accurate reporting of catch and enforcement of regulations against those that break them will be welcomed," said Lyon.
"Presently fisheries monitoring in general is seeing improvements through technology, and it may not be too far off that we see live video streams of catches being landed as a requirement of a fishing license."
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