marine life – The Pearl Protectors

Introduction to Mariculture

The Pearl Protectors — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 11:33:47 +0000

By Janya Edirisinghe

Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, is a specialised subset of aquaculture, that is practiced in seawater habitats and lagoons as opposed to in freshwater aquaculture. Fish like sea bream, cod, halibut, and sea bass are examples of products cultivated through mariculture. It accounts for about 40% of the world’s aquaculture production. Countries such as China, Japan and Indonesia are some of the top mariculture-producing countries.

What are the types of Mariculture?

Mollusk Culture

Clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels are popular sea animals that can be farmed in regions with temperate climates. The process of mariculture involves initially collecting larvae from natural habitats or artificially fertilized larvae grown in hatcheries. Usually, parents are captured and taken to spawn their children in captivity.

Then, the larvae are taken to a different location to grow where hanging culture is practised, where they can grow suspended on strings, trays, stacks or mesh bags that hang from long lines floating in the water.

A few other methods of growing molluscs include vertical/rack culture, where they grow directly on sticks staked into the ground or on racks upheld by posts and bottom culture in which clams, for example, grow on shells, rocks or cement slabs on the sea floor. Also, molluscs such as abalone are grown in tanks.

Crustacean culture

Shrimp are mostly grown in tropical regions. Initially, the babies are grown in hatcheries, and they are then taken to grow in ponds, concrete raceways, and tanks. The shrimp ponds used to be located in rice fields and mangrove forests all around the world, but the subsequent destruction of mangrove areas has encouraged farmers to grow shrimp in inland ponds filled with transported seawater instead.

Marine Plant Culture

Most marine aquatic plants such as seaweed are grown in temperate regions. The plants used for breeding are originally sourced from their natural environment. Most farmed plants tend to be grown in hatcheries and once they reach a certain life stage, the plants are transferred to grow sites where the young plants are grown attached to suspended lines or floating rafts, in bottom cultures anchored to the sea floor and in inland tanks, similar to the way that molluscs are grown.

Finfish culture

Finfish are farmed in both temperate and tropical regions. Their defining feature is that they have fins and an example of a finfish includes salmon, which is also an example of a diadromous fish and these are the types of fish that migrate between the ocean and freshwater. Marine farming involves raising these diadromous fish.

Farmed finfish are first born in hatcheries and are then put into tanks and transferred to growth sites after the fertilised eggs hatch.

Finfish can be grown in pens, cages and large tanks. Pens are anchored to the sea floor in shallow waters. Cages can be located inshore or offshore. Inshore cages are usually in shallow waters with more protected areas that have less water circulation compared to offshore cages that are in deep water which has better water circulation and more exposure to storms.

The fish can also be grown in ponds that feature canals and dikes to help supply and drain water from pond compartments. Recirculating systems are used to control the water supplied to these ponds and factors such as temperature, as well as physical and chemical properties are taken into consideration.

Finfish are also subject to methods of growing called enhancement and ranching. At the inception, the fish are released at a young age to help restock free-living populations. Afterwards, the fish are captured in open waters that are artificially enclosed. Sea ranching is a method of mariculture that is also used to grow molluscs, crustaceans, marine plants and other marine organisms.

Over time, the raising of fish in cages close to the shore or in bays has caused severe ecological issues including contamination, disease, increased fish mortality, and severe damage to marine ecology, quality of the environment, and tourism.

To conclude, although world fish production from capture fisheries levelled off during the 1990s, demand for seafood continues to increase rapidly. This is because of the growth of the human population and the widespread view that seafood is healthy food. Scientists believe that the natural products from the ocean will not increase so to meet the rise in demand for seafood, both mariculture and fresh-water aquaculture will have to increase significantly. However, while several species are being reared successfully by marine culturists, various desirable species such as crabs and lobsters are very difficult to rear due to their life cycles being difficult to control under culture conditions or simply because they are way too complex.

Header Image: A fish farm off the coast of Greece. Photo by Artur Rydzewski

Are We Killing Them Softly? Anthropologic Impact on Sea Turtles

The Pearl Protectors — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 13:01:12 +0000

By Samudra De Silva

From the shallow seagrass beds of the Indian Ocean, and vivid reefs of coral triangle to sandy coasts of the Eastern Pacific, seven different species of sea turtles swim through our ocean waters. As a highly migratory species, turtles periodically come ashore to nest, and spend the most of their lives in the ocean. For more than a hundred million years, sea turtles have played a crucial role in sustaining the balance of our marine ecosystems. They fortify productive coral reefs and transfer nutrients from the ocean to coastal dunes. Over the last two centuries, human activities have growingly challenged the survival of these ancient mariners.

Today Sea turtles are being completely erased from some parts of the planet and pushed to the verge of extinction. Nearly all seven existing species of sea turtles are now classified as endangered, with three of them being critically endangered. But at the same time, sea turtles are one of the most loved and discussed among marine animals. There is hardly anybody who hate these graceful flippers. It is important to review how we knowingly or unknowingly have doomed their lives.

Sea turtles are victims of poaching and over exploitation. They have been slaughtered for human consumption and their meat, skin, and shells are traded as food, medicine, collectibles, and spiritual artifacts over the years in unsustainable levels. Turtle eggs are collected from nesting sites as food and for their alleged aphrodisiac effect. Hawksbill turtles are hunted for their unique gold and brown shells used in making jewelry and other collectibles. Many other sea turtle species are killed for their skin, which is sold as a raw material for leather accessories. A global assessment on illegal marine turtle exploitation, demonstrate that over 1.1 million sea turtles were exploited from 1990-2020 against existing laws prohibiting their use in 65 countries with over 44,000 turtles exploited annually over the past decade. Exploitation across the 30 years dominantly consisted of green (56%) and hawksbill (39%) turtles when identified by species. International trade of all species of sea turtles and their parts is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a global agreement among 173 governments to regulate or ban international trade in species under threat, yet illegal trafficking persists, especially in parts of Africa, Asia and the America.

Bycatch or the incidental capture by fishing gear is lethal to most sea turtles, especially endangered loggerhead turtles, greens turtles, and leatherback turtles. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles are caught up in shrimp trawl nets, gill nets, and on longline hooks every year. Since sea turtles need to reach the water surface to breathe, many drown once entangled in the nets or hooks. This threat is increasing alarmingly as fishing activity expands. However, some relatively inexpensive changes in fishing gear, such as using larger hooks from which sea turtles can escape, is observed to bring down the mortality rate. Turtle excluder devices (TEDs) could reduce sea turtle bycatch in nets as well.

Along with many other species, sea turtles face habitat loss. Feeding grounds of turtles such as sea grass beds and coral reefs are continually deteriorated by natural and human activities including sedimentation, nutrient run off from agriculture, and beach restoration through sand filling. Human development projects such as beach nourishment, parks, rock jetties, and buildings on beaches can reduce the amount and quality of available nesting sites for sea turtles. Human generated light is a serious threat to newly hatched sea turtles. Hatchlings are naturally attracted to light as the brightest area on a natural beach is the horizon over the ocean. Bright light emitted from streetlights and building on beaches causes hatchlings to become disoriented, crawling towards the light on the land and away from the water. Some beaches with high turtle nesting density have lost thousands of hatchlings due to impact of artificial light. There are recorded cases where large number of hatchlings were run over by vehicles after disorienting and crawling onto roadway. Noise and human activity on the beach also may cause females turtles to return to the sea instead of nesting.

Pollution, both chemical and physical, has become fatal. Trash in ocean and along coastlines, lowers the quality of their feeding grounds and nesting sites. Turtles seem to confuse solo drifting debris with their diet, and many turtles are dying from intestinal blockage due to ingestion of balloons and plastic bags which resemble their gelatinous translucent prey (jelly fish). A recent study shows that loggerheads ate plastic 17% of the time they encountered it, mistaking it for jellyfish. It escalated to 62% for green turtles, likely on the lookout for algae. The chemicals ingested from the plastic can leach into their eggs and affect offspring. A high level of phthalates has been measured in Leatherback turtle eggs’ yolks, which can disrupt endocrine activity in hatchlings. In 2015, an Olive Ridley sea turtle was found with a plastic drinking straw lodged inside its nostrils. Sharp objects found in marine debris can cause both internal and external injuries in sea turtles, which turns lethal. Sea turtles are vulnerable to oil spills because of the oil’s tendency to linger on the water’s surface, and affect them at all stages of their life cycle.

Climate change which is a long term and inevitable outcome of pollution has an impact on turtle nesting sites, as alterations in sand temperatures of the nest which determines the sex of hatchlings. Unusually warm temperatures are disrupting the normal ratios, biasing towards females resulting in fewer male hatchlings, or even preventing any of the eggs from hatching. The right balance between sexes is a determining factor for the continued procreation of this critically endangered species. Warmer sea surface temperatures can also lead to the loss of important foraging grounds for sea turtles, while increasingly severe storms and rising sea levels can destroy nests and erode beaches, making safe nesting sites severely scarce. Altering ocean currents, which are the highways that sea turtles use for migration, cause them to possibly have to shift their range and nesting time.

Unregulated leisure activities organized by travel and tourism businesses, such as “swim with sea turtles” followed by tourists feeding the animals, are exposing them to health risks. Too much of human intervention can disturb beaching turtles and scare them away. Often such activities are conducted with primitive knowledge on the behavior of these sensitive marine creatures, and only focuses on the financial gain. There are recorded cases where captive turtles are used for such businesses. Not only is it unethical and illegal, keeping away a mature animal that could reproduce, and stopping it from contributing to the genetic pool is ill- fated for the survival of a species, specially an endangered one.

Mismanaged conservation efforts such as sea turtle hatcheries seem to impact sea turtles in an opposing way than what they are planned for – which is to protect, rehabilitate and release back into the wild. Usually the turtle eggs are collected from the beach so as to avoid the risk of poachers and predators. Once the turtles hatch, they are monitored and released in to the ocean. Research demonstrates that relocating eggs alter hatchling gender ratios as well as the hatchling rate, possibly due to unusually warmer temperatures and overcrowding. In natural circumstances, the hatchlings are supposed to enter sea as soon as they hatch. Unfortunately, commercial turtle hatcheries act as tourist bait until an entrance fee is paid to release the sea turtles to the ocean, and they are kept in cement tanks until then. The cement tanks cannot simply replicate a sea environment in terms of salinity and the space that the sea turtles are habituated to, as highly migratory animals. Overpopulated, unhygienic and poorly maintained tanks caused spread of diseases among captive hatchlings, and allowing tourists to touch them further increases the risk of contamination and diseases. Hatchlings lose their stored energy by swimming continually in tanks at its critical stage of development, downgrading their survival rate when they eventually swim out to the deep ocean. Rehabilitation through hatcheries also interfere with the unique imprinting mechanism of sea turtles which naturally guide them to return to their natal beach to lay their own eggs someday.

Such human generated threats to sea turtles are escalating along with the rising human populations around the world. In-situ conservation, strengthening protected areas around nesting beaches, raising public awareness on the behavior of sea turtles, promoting ecotourism, lobbying for turtle friendly fishing practices, and minimizing of plastic debris and chemical contaminants which end up in the sea, will be helpful to ensure the tomorrow of those unique and graceful mariners who share the planet with us.

Header Image: NPS Photo via US National Park Service

The Blue Dragon Species

The Pearl Protectors — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:04:40 +0000

By Janya Edirisinghe

Glaucus Atlanticus, commonly known as the blue dragon/blue glaucus are a species of nudibranches (sea slugs). However, unlike terrestrial sea slugs, these sea slugs are very brightly coloured. These colours have inspired a series of nicknames, such as blue dragon, sea swallow, and blue angel.

CHARACTERISTICS AND APPEARANCE

The Blue Dragon species is pelagic which means that they float on the water surface, due to the air stored inside their stomachs, which is not a common characteristic of most nudibranchs. The creature often floats on its backside, showing its brightly coloured underbelly to airborne predators. The bright and dark blue colour camouflage against the backdrop of ocean waves, and the animal’s silvery grey dorsal blends in with the bright sea surface, concealing it from predators below. The deep blue colour may also help reflect harmful UV rays. This phenomenon is called countershading where the animal is built in a way to help it avoid being attacked by both flying and swimming predators while floating in open water.

Additionally, the Blue Glaucus has a flattened, tapered body, along with six appendages that branch out into finger-like cerata – they almost look like horns. Cerata are long, slender structures that sting when hunting or when the Blue Glaucus feels threatened.

FOOD AND DIET

Like other sea slug species, the blue glaucus isn’t venomous by itself. They store venom in their bodies mostly derived as they feed on other pelagic, venomous creatures including the Portuguese Man o’ War and the Blue Button Jelly. These sea slugs will then store these toxins within their own tissues. The blue dragon has hard disks inside its skin and a protective layer of mucus that shields them against these stinging cells – of which it can accumulate a significant amount. This ability provides the blue glaucus with a defence mechanism against predation. Cannibalism is also very common between this species – these slugs won’t hesitate to eat other Blue Glaucus if they are unable to find other pelagic creatures to feast on.

HABITAT

Glaucus Atlanticus thrive in warm temperate climates and are usually found in tropical/subtropical waters. These sea slugs are passive swimmers which means that they are carried along by the winds and ocean currents. A group of blue glaucuses floating together is called a ‘blue fleet’. Since they float with the current, these ‘blue fleets’ can end up being stranded in beaches accidentally and they can be found in almost every ocean – there are several records of these creatures being found along Indian coastlines. Humans handling the slug may receive a very painful and potentially dangerous sting, hence it is not advisable to have close contact with these creatures. One thing to keep in mind is that the venom of the Blue Glaucus remains active even after it dies!

Interestingly, Blue Glaucus are now appearing in regions where they have never been seen before and scientists theorize that this may be due to the cyclical changes in the Portuguese Man o’ War populations, warming oceans and increased storm activity.

LIFESPAN AND REPRODUCTION

The life expectancy of the Blue Dragon is short and ranges from between one month to one year.

The Blue Glaucus, like all nudibranchs, is hermaphroditic – each individual produces both egg and sperm. An individual cannot fertilize its own eggs, however, and hence pairs must still mate. Long, spiral-shaped eggs are produced by both males and females and often float freely in the open water or stick to nearby surfaces.

THREATS

Many people want to add these creatures to aquariums all around the world, but keeping the Blue Glaucus in confinement is impractical because of its diet, as it is nearly impossible to obtain the required number of Portuguese Man o’ War, and those kept as pets often starve to death.

Moreover, ocean acidification caused by an increase in C02 levels due to global warming has led to a reduction of food that the Portuguese man o’ war eats (such as shrimp and small adult fish), eventually threatening Blue Glaucus populations.

Additionally, pollution represents an ongoing threat to the survival of Blue Glaucus. Harmful objects can be fatal to this sea slug as well as the toxins in the trash.

As mentioned above, cannibalism is common among this species, so other Blue Glaucus impose a threat to this sea slug. Few studies that have been conducted on the Blue Glaucus, show that loggerhead sea turtles may be one natural predator. A study on this species found that 42% of their stomachs contained remnants of blue dragons.

In conclusion, like most marine invertebrates, there is little information available regarding the conservation status of the Blue Glaucus, therefore, more research has to be done into this area, so that these creatures do not go into extinction.

An Introduction to Blast Fishing

The Pearl Protectors — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 07:58:12 +0000

By Nathasha Wickramasinghe

Dynamite fishing, more commonly known as ‘blast fishing’, is a fishing technique where dynamite or other explosives are used to stun/kill fish. The explosions send shock waves through the water, which stuns, kills, or ruptures the fish’s swim bladder (i.e., the organ that controls their buoyancy). Once the dead fish surfaces the water, they are collected with ease and sold at fish markets.

This is a highly destructive technique as it kills any animal and flora in the blast area ranging from fish eggs, and plankton to whales and coral reefs. It completely destroys fish habitats, thereby affecting the livelihoods of fish communities.

One of the most devastating impacts of blast fishing is on coral reefs. Coral reefs are built by coral polyps which are small soft-bodied organisms that are related to anemones and jellyfish. These coral polyps secrete calcium carbonate which creates the foundation for baby corals to grow. But bomb fragments used in various explosives will completely shatter the skeleton of the coral (which is the calcium carbonate built up over time), thus reducing it to rubble. After such damage, it would usually take up to 9 – 12 years to recover coral reefs. However, it will never return to the condition it was before the disturbance. This destroys a prominent underwater habitat, home to more than 7000 species ranging from sponges, oysters, crustaceans to reef shark, sea turtles etc.

One of the most recent cases of blast fishing is in Sabah, Malaysia. Blast fishing was not a common practice as it is now post-COVID-19. This is due to the loss of the local communities’ source of income that is tourism. The situation was so devastating in Sabah that approximately 15 blasts could be heard per hour and less than 25% of the coral reef is now intact.

Furthermore, food insecurity will start to arise due to shortages of fish variety in the long run. Thus, if it is not rectified, then the quality of living standards in these coastal areas will start to fall and the inequality in terms of income and access to basic necessities like food within the community will start to rise.

As the awareness of the consequences of blast fishing is increasing, people around the world have come up with various solutions. For example, after the detrimental impacts on the coral reefs of the northern part of the islands of Borneo in Sabah, Malaysia, a Hong-Kong based non-governmental organization called ‘ Stop Fish Bombing ‘, has collaborated with a California technology company called ‘Shot Spotter’ to create gunshot locating technology that can be used to detect fish bombs underwater. The technology uses acoustic sensing, location technology, and emerging surveillance and monitoring systems, which allows the organization to easily detect any underwater disruptions. With this technology, we are able to create a global detection system, allowing us to put a stop to this illegal fishing activity around the world.

The Stop Fish Bombing organization has further collaborated with Anti Fish bombing committee of Sabah government, WWF Malaysia and Reef check Malaysia, and Sabah Environment Trust, to develop new policies that complies with the Government’s sustainable development Goal 14 (i.e., conserve & sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development). These new policies can be imposed to stop blast fishing and ensure sustainability in the marine environment.

Another major case was the illegal practice of blast fishing in Tanzania even after banning it once again in 2003. Initially it started in the early 1960’s after begin firstly introduced by the Europeans during World war 2 and was banned in 1970.

\Blast fishing in Tanzania was banned under the revised fisheries act in 2003. The Fisheries Act states that it is an act to repeal and replace the Fisheries Act of 1970. It is to make provision for sustainable development, conservation, protection, aqua culture development and regulation of marine products. The government in 2003 further imposed a sentence of five years for dynamite fishing and 12 months just for the possession of these explosives.

Dozens of kerosene bombs were tossed into the Indian Ocean mainly along the coastlines of Mtwara to Tanga. These explosives were derived from mines/road construction firms or simply just made at home. They are very easy to make, accessible, and cheap, making the use of blast fishing more frequent. The explosives will produce an underwater shock that will rupture the fishes swim bladder. The fish will then float to the surface where the Tanzanian fisherman will scoop them up in their fishing nets.

In order to reduce the impact of blast fishing, environmental organizations such as Mwambo coastal community network (non-profit organization) and Multi – Agency Task Team collaborated to target and control individuals involved in the illegal practice and seize their assets.

In addition to that, the Tanzania Blast Monitoring Network is conducting awareness campaigns within local communities, educating the young generation about the habitual destruction caused by dynamite fishing.

Today, blast fishing is prohibited in many countries around the world however, it is still a common practice in southern parts of Asia such as Malaysia and Philippines despite many laws begin enforced on this illegal practice.

Header Image: Zu Yien – Fotolia

Status of the Shark Fin Industry in Sri Lanka

The Pearl Protectors — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 12:27:40 +0000

By Savithri Sellapperumage

One third of chondrichthyan species such as sharks, rays, and chimeras are facing extinction, mainly due to unsustainable fishing. This phenomenon is exacerbated with high demand for dried shark fins worldwide.

Shark fins are extracted using several methods; by removing the fin upon catching the shark, which is then not discarded and as another method, using a practice of finning where fins are cut off after catching a shark and their mutilated body is then tossed back to sea. However, in the latter method, the shark is often alive after cutting its fins and they meet a painful end by bleeding, drowning, and starving to death. Therefore, it is prohibited in most countries around the world. Any shark of any age are hunted for their fins however, fins of sharks such as Blue Shark, Whale Shark, and Basking Shark are most traded and sought after. Shark fins are used for cuisine in Asia and used for medicinal purposes as well. Shark fin soup is very costly, as much as $100.00 a bowl served for Chinese nobility, weddings and ceremonies and Dried shark fin is the most expensive seafood product, sold for upwards of $1,000 per kilogram ($2,200 per pound).

Sri Lankan waters are home to over 100 species of sharks and rays and at least 64% of them are listed in the IUCN Red List reported threatened. Shark fin exportation has been in practice in Sri Lanka for decades. However, shark populations has reported to be declining in the waters of Sri Lanka owing to overfishing practices. Accordingly, shark fishing too has been reported to have declined over the years with the declining shark population in Sri Lankan waters as well as increasing trend of fishing Tuna.

Shark fin export industry in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, sharks are caught as a bycatch and in small scale target fishing. The process of shark products exportation is reported as follows; the caught sharks are unloaded from the boat and then are removed of its fins. Then, meat and dried fins are exported to relevant countries.

In the international market, Hong Kong is the largest importer of Shark fins: European countries such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France and Italy too have become key suppliers of shark Fin. Meanwhile Sri Lanka exports to countries including Hongkong and Singapore.

Sri Lanka’s shark fins exports are classified as:

1. Frozen fish fins, heads, tails, maws, and other edible fish offal (excl. livers, roes, milt and shark fins)

2. Fresh or chilled shark fins

3. Prepared or preserved shark fins, whole or in pieces

4. Shark fins, smoked, dried, salted or in brine

5. Frozen shark fins

Following figure depicts the values and top destinations of dried shark fins exported by Sri Lanka from 2012- 2017.

Several online platforms too indicate Sri Lankan sellers (as individuals traders and companies) of Shark fins available for exportation; go4worldbusiness.com is one of the sites.

Via the diagram below, the status of Shark fin exportation for over 15 years is depicted. The quantities are observed to be fluctuating however, exportation trends have increased gradually during the recent period of 2013- 2019.

Rules and Regulations for shark fin industry in Sri Lanka

Laws pertaining to the shark fin industry differ from country to country. While some countries prohibit finning, they do not prohibit sale of fins purchased elsewhere. In Sri Lanka, the approach is two fold; 1. to better utilize the carcass of a shark caught 2. to ensure the protection of endangered shark species.

Among many institutions responsible of conservation of biodiversity in Sri Lanka such as the Department of Wildlife conservation, one of the main institutions established with the legal mandate to manage all fisheries in Sri Lanka is Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR). In 2015, legislation placed in 2001 was updated and gazette was enacted to prohibit shark finning and the discarding as per Gazette 1938/2 – October 26, 2015. Accordingly, removal of fins of any shark onboard a vessel, the discarding of a carcass from which the fins have been removed, retention onboard, transshipment, or landing of fins unless naturally attached to the body of the shark are prohibited.

Additionally, Sri Lanka is accountable to international regulations established under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) all of which seek to conserve shark varieties including endangered, avoid Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing.

Sri Lanka compiled National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks in 2013 and was revised in 2018. Strategic objectives of the SLNPOA-Sharks (2018-2022) are; 1. Implementing Laws and legal frameworks necessary for the conservation of Shark species in Sri Lankan waters by 2026; 2. Harvesting strategies, together with harvest control rules and tools consistent with the principles of biological sustainability and rational long-term economic use are in place and implemented for key Shark species including but not limited to one or more directed Shark fishery, silky shark, blue shark and mobulids, by 2026; 3. Critical Shark habitats are protected through MPAs (including Fisheries Management Areas)22and marine biodiversity and ecosystem structure and function necessary for the conservation and management of Sharks are maintained, by 2026.

Challenges of regulating shark fin industry in Sri Lanka.

Despite regulations established, Sri Lanka continues to report illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing of sharks thus making it impossible to track data of shark fin industry. The issue is exacerbated as, aside from requiring all sharks to be landed with fins attached to the body, majorly only few species enjoy legal protection: the pelagic thresher sharks, bigeye thresher sharks, common thresher sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, and whale sharks. Fishing regulations on unsustainable fishing methods such as bottom trawling or dynamite fishing are poorly enforced. Traders or companies continue to illegally export shark fins without permits. Regulations remain on paper with lack of enforcement. Due to dualistic legal system, implementation of international regulations such as CITES remain challenging.

However for an instance of compliance to CITES, a recent instance of seizing Illegal exporting of endangered shark species’ (Shortfin Mako Shark and the Hammerhead Shark) listed under CITES red list fins in 2021 accounting to 200-300 sharks can be sited as a positive development.

Strengthening legislation and institutional capacities to tackle illegal shark finning, increase research and data gathering to maintain an updated database of shark fin industry are needs of the hour.

Cover Image by Antony Dickson

What Killed Freya The Walrus?

The Pearl Protectors — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 12:10:02 +0000

By Govini Elvitigala

Freya was a 600 kg female walrus who gained fame wandering Northern European waters. Her journey started in the Arctic and ended tragically in the Oslo Fjord. Freya arrived in the Oslo Fjord in mid-July meeting and was then euthanized in mid-August as she was recognized as a threat to public welfare.

Walruses are known to be dangerous mammals. With their gigantic bodies and sharp tusks, they are powerful predators, capable not only of killing their prey – seals – but even of attacking the polar bears that prey on them. They are known to sink small boats, attack scuba divers and kill people. While these cases are rare, since walruses usually inhabit isolated areas with few humans, it is difficult to believe that they can be gentle with humans consistently. While not physically harming any humans, Freya herself sank boats to the amusement of people watching this scene. Walruses are also known to be unpredictable, so having seen the pictures of crowds flocking to stand mere meters away from this gigantic creature despite warnings, the concerns of the Norwegian authorities are reasonable. Their chosen mode of action, not so much.

Freya needed to be removed from the public, but according to Rd. Bjorn, a senior scientist from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, moving Freya would have caused her physiological stress, potentially leading to her death. Anesthetics were deemed unfeasible with concerns of severe respiratory and circulatory problems, and the difficulty of accessing her blood vessels. Using a net too came at risk to Freya, this time the risk being of her entangling herself, panicking, and drowning. Using an open-top cage was seen as the “gentlest” option but then the associated use of resources and money made this too impracticable for the government. So, for fear of accidentally killing her while moving her, she was killed outright. Choosing a fast death over potential suffering and dying can be considered reasonable but why the authorities did not pay more attention to fixing the human behaviour that caused this problem in the first place is a mystery. True, just one human disobeying orders and putting themselves in harm’s way would have caused as much outrage as Freya’s death did. But why the animal had to pay for humanity’s lack of respect for the power of mother nature is only reflective of our overall relationship with nature.

Walruses are vulnerable species according to the IUCN red list but the death of one walrus, no matter how tragic, does not significantly affect the total population. The March 2022 approval of oil exploration in the Artic is much more concerning. Norway is the second largest petroleum producer in Europe after Russia and Western nations are eager for non-Russian fuel alternatives. The Arctic exploration for oil will be done in regions close to already explored areas, so anything discovered will be taken out of the ground and put into the atmosphere much faster than is the norm. One walrus was killed recently, but I doubt the numbers killed with this decision will be counted.

Cover Image: Trond Reidar Teigen