Whale shark conservation campaign to flag off on August 30

On the occasion of International Whale Shark Day, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) will launch – ‘Save the Whale Shark Campaign’ – along the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep at Milagres Hall on August 30.

The Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on earth and a keystone species in our marine ecosystem. It can grow to a length of approximately 18 m and weigh as much as 21 metric tons. Although distributed widely across tropical and warm temperate seas, limited information is available on the population trends of this species, especially along the Indian coastline.

The big fish has the highest level of protection as a Schedule I Species in Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The year-long conservation campaign will run along coastal Karnataka, Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands in collaboration with the Forest and Fisheries Departments of Karnataka, Kerala and the Lakshadweep Administration, informed Professor B C Choudhury, Trustee, WTI and Project's Principal Investigator.

“Karnataka and Kerala were significant Whale Shark landing areas after the Gujarat coast. The main goal of this project is to reduce and eradicate Whale Shark death in the incidental catch in fishing nets by the voluntary release of Whale Shark. This initiative targets the marine fishers along these two states and the island of Lakshadweep,” he said and added that ‘Save the Whale Shark Campaign’ aims to connect marine fisher folks.

A mobile application has been developed to record whale shark spotting and rescues for further conservation action. A similar WTI project operational in Gujarat for the past 20 years has resulted in fisher folks releasing over 900 whale sharks in Arabian Sea. All the fishers who have rescued the big fish have been made Whale Shark Conservation Champions, he recollected.

Vivek Menon, Founder and Executive Director of WTI said; “The whale shark, the largest fish in the world, are a migratory guest in our coastal waters traveling thousands of kilometres from Australia and South East Asia. This campaign gives us an opportunity to expand our learning from Gujarat and motivate another successful community-driven conservation effort in collaboration with fisheries and forest departments.”