By Goutham Sambath | Project Lead, Marine Conservation
Since 2004, fishermen off the coast of Gujarat have been cutting through their nets to release accidentally trapped whale sharks. To avail relief offered by the forest department for loss of their fishing nets, the rescue has to be documented. This has sometimes resulted in a long wait as the rescue team arrives at the spot. The cameras handed out to fishermen, with your support, to enable self documentation has reduced this waiting time and therefore stress to the fish considerably. Since then, 61 whale shark releases have been photographed by the fishermen themselves using these cameras.
In mid April, a momentous release occurred… a newborn whale shark pup, less than a metre long, was found entangled in a fishing net 20 km off the coast of Sutrapada. The boat crew immediately set the pup free. Fisherman Mohan Beem Solanki - one of the recipients of the camera, sent us a few pictures of the young whale shark.
This release is especially good news because it indicates that the world’s largest fish may be breeding or pupping in the waters off coastal Gujarat. As the fishing community continues active protection of whale sharks, we continue our efforts to learn more about the fish to improve its conservation and welfare prospects, with your support.
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