Cage diving opportunities and industry threats

Shark cage diving is conducted in Cape Town! Many often ask the question, is it ethical?

Perhaps 50 years ago, the sharks may not have needed the protection of the people whose livelihoods depends on them. Illegal fishing, over-fishing, and rampant raping of the seas all goes unnoticed by the very landlubbers who shout ‘unethical’.

So, who are the whistleblowers?

Those who have the most to lose! The shark cage industry comprises of a community who are invested in the welfare of the sharks, the eco-system that supports them, and are nature lovers in general.

The industry spends more time on the water than most other eco-tourism vessels. It’s therefore important that a significant amount of time spent observing the sharks and their habitats be channeled towards taking action aimed at protecting the sharks.

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The Shark Cage Diving Industry versus the Fishing Industry

The billion-rand eco-tourism industry employs around 350 people, and indirectly supports more than 1 650 dependents.

With the decline in the presence of the great white shark in both False Bay and Gansbaai, there is a novel emergence of other shark species, namely the seven-gill shark and the bronze whaler shark. Both these species have been visiting the cage diving boats over the last four years.

The bronze whaler is a commercially fished species. Even though bronze whalers are generally regarded as low value, there is a market for both their meat and fins for export in South Africa. Bronze whaler sharks do not reach maturity until + – 20 years old. What we do know about these sharks is that the Gansbaai and False Bay locations are being utilised as feeding areas for these pregnant sharks and even possibly a nursery area for this IUCN near threatened species.

The media were alerted by the shark cage diving industry to local fisherman targeting the bronze whaler sharks in the location of the shark cage diving boats. Front row seats to the killing of any animal that is labelled a vulnerable species is unacceptable. Shark eco-tourism is a non-consumptive industry where the economic value of live sharks is worth more to South Africa than fishermen can make from a dead shark,” says Wilfred Chivell of Marine Dynamics.

Demersal Longline Fishing

Enter Operation Phakisa mandated by the South African Government in July 2014 which is a quick result delivery programme specifically designed to boost economic growth and increase job creation with one of the outlets being the utilization of the sea. As a result of this mandate, many fisheries were opened along the South African coastline. These fisheries are now having a devastating impact on the health of our ecosystem. It is clear very little impact assessment, if any was done on the effects of these new fisheries on the ecosystem and indeed other fisheries.

One of these was the implementation of 6 demersal longline shark fishing permits primarily targeting Smooth Hound (gummy shark) and soup fin shark (tope shark).

Like all sharks, these shark species mature late and have relatively few young. As such they are both extremely prone to collapsing if put under severe and heavy fishing pressure.

Almost overnight, the sharks vanished, and their disappearance was accompanied by a dramatic decline with catch statistics and observations now showing how dire the situation is. In response to this, concerned individuals in the ocean and shark cage diving community have put heavy pressure on DAFF and have called for immediate termination of the demersal inshore shark longlining fishery.

Many scientific studies have proved the extreme importance of the presence of predators in the ecosystem to maintain the fine balance that exists. When these predators are taken out, the entire collapse of the ecosystem can take place.  When this happens there will be a knock-on effect to absolutely everything from consumptive fisheries to non-consumptive tourism related activities. “The effects will be catastrophic and all for the creation of a handful of jobs in a fishing sector that brings in very little economic value to South Africa,” says Chris Fallows of Apex Shark Expeditions.

South Africa is probably the most famous country in the world for tourists to come out and see a multitude of shark species. Our coastline is unique in that it has one of the highest densities and diversities of shark species anywhere that would attract more and more people to our shores. This is all being sacrificed due to apathetic officials and a few greedy fishermen who seem determined to change our marine ecology and landscape forever.