Return of the Whale Shark

The Whale Shark, the largest extant fish species, seems to have a particular fondness for Gujarat. The fish has been a regular guest to the state’s coastline, which is its preferred breeding ground. The 261-km stretch from Okha to Veraval, bordering western Saurashtra, is a breeding ground for many exotic wildlife species, and the Whale Shark is one of them.

The Whale Shark is one of the success stories of marine wildlife conservation along the Gujarat coast. Leading the way are Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Gujarat Nature Conservation Society. Corporate houses such as Tata Chemicals Ltd (TCL) have also got involved in this noble venture. Officially there are a few protected areas in this coastline, but with the aforementioned agencies at work, things have started to look up. The most innovative initiative is the Whale Shark Awareness Campaign, spearheaded by the WTI and TCL.

WTI coordinator Dhiresh Joshi says, “Earlier, fishermen here used to kill the Whale Shark for its liver oil. It was used for waterproofing their fishing vessels.” During the 80s and 90s, the fishing community learned that Whale Shark meat is of demand is some Far East Asian countries. The meat of a single whale shark can fetch up to Rs 1 lakh. This further increased their hunting here.

The matter was brought to light by WWF India. In 2001, the agency carried a detailed assessment of the Whale Shark trade in Gujarat between 1998 and 2000. The research revealed that the Gujarat fishermen were hunting more than 600 Whale Sharks annually.

“Mike Pandey’s film 'Shores of Silence — Whale Sharks in India', which won the Green Oscar in 2000, brought much global attention to the plight of Gujarat’s whale sharks,” says Joshi.

In 2001, the Ministry of Environment and Forests banned the killing of the Whale Shark. It became the first marine fish to be included in Schedule I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. In 2002-03, WTI took up the Whale Shark conservation in Gujarat. The first thing that the agency did was that it awakened a feeling of pride among the people living in the coastline about Gujarat being one of the major breeding grounds of this fish in the world. The campaign got a lot of support from the region’s wildlife groups, the Gujarat government, and TCL. By 2008, towns such as Porbandar, Veraval and other hubs of the fishing industry had adopted the Whale Shark as their mascot. The postal department of the state also released a special Whale Shark cover in 2005.

Spiritual leader Morari Bapu was approached to create awareness about the campaign. “Bapu immediately agreed to lend support to the campaign in 2004. This marked a major change in our approach. Bapu gave an emotional twist to the campaign. Bapu called the fish Vhali (loved one) and in his appeal told fishermen to stop the killing because it comes to the coast of Gujarat to give birth to its young like the daughter, who comes home  to deliver a baby. The appeal made at different forums yielded positive results. Fishermen started releasing Whale Sharks that accidentally got trapped in their nets. The Gujarat government also supported the project and announced compensation for those fishermen whose nets were destroyed in the course of releasing trapped Whale Sharks.

Talking about the future course of action, Joshi said that the Wildlife Trust of India, Gujarat forest department and Tata Chemicals Ltd have decided to study the migration, breeding and habitat of the Whale Shark using technology similar to those used by NASA in space research.