Shark fishing in Vietnam and Tobago

Written by staff reporter Monday, 30 June 2008 00:00

Photo: Chris Gee Photo: Chris Gee

Chris Gee told me about the diving in the Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area in Vietnam. He never saw a shark or ray underwater, but walked past the port and spotted three fishing boats stuffed full of sharks and manta rays, with fishermen busy slicing off their fins. These fishermen were working illegally inside the protected marine park, which would explain why the dive operator told Chris that sharks and rays are rarely seen there any more.

The park was set up and funded as a joint project by the Global Environment Facility ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), Danida ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), which is the foreign development arm of the Danish government, and the IUCN (whose communications coordinator, Brian Thompson, can be reached on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). It is well worth writing an email explaining that their work and money is going to waste as the area is anything but protected. Send a copy of your emails to each of them with a further copy to the Ministry of the Environment in Vietnam at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Carol and Laurie Fraenkel tell of a similar sight at Speyside on Tobago. The diving there is some of the best in the Caribbean, and they were thrilled to spot a hammerhead shark on one of their dives. This was not the only shark they saw that day, but sadly the rest were lying in the bottom of a fishing boat off Speyside with their fins cut off. The local dive operators were unhappy about this going on, but the same boat has been appearing regularly over the last year, long-lining for sharks around Little Tobago and offshore from Speyside to catch different species of shark.

Tobago prides itself on its environmental record, and has protected large areas of forest – but because most people can’t see what happens underwater, such things are often ignored. Small-scale shark fishing is invariably a boom-and-bust industry, as shark populations in a local area quickly get fished out. The effects of removing the top predator are largely unknown, but such an imbalance can cause profound changes in the local ecosystem. The local economy relies on visiting divers, whose numbers will invariably fall if the word gets around that all the sharks are gone. Pressure needs to be put on the environment and tourism officials to stop the shark fishing and support the proposals being put forward to create a marine park in that area. Contact Shelly Ann Edwards, head of tourism development, on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and encourage any tour operators who send divers out there to apply as much pressure as they can.

Here in Europe, it is a similar tale of ignorance and inaction. It is still legal to catch endangered species, such as angel sharks and spiny dogfish, with no limits or quotas. The centre of the long-lining industry is in Spain and Portugal, and now more than 70 per cent of the landings by the swordfish fleets are, in fact, blue sharks. There is a Community Plan of Action for Sharks being prepared by the European Commission, which is due to be published by December 2008, and there has been strong and positive input from the British government. Our fisheries minister, Jonathan Shaw ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), should be congratulated for this and encouraged to keep his commitment, as there will be strong opposition from EU members such as Spain and France.

If you spot a shark, add it to the Shark Trust’s sightings database at www.sharktrust.org/sd . If you see sharks that have been caught, then let the Trust know what type and how many on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and help build up the global picture of shark distribution and numbers.