Sharks trouble longline fleets

SHARKS have posed a big problem to the longline fishing industry over the years, says Captain Charles Pickering.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the fishing industry, fishing master for vessel Seaka 2, Capt Pickering said he was not sure if a population survey of sharks in Fiji waters and around its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) had been carried out.

“Right now, shark fishing is banned, and the population has increased.

“In the fishing longline industry, it has been a headache for captains and crew and the owners,” he said.

“We normally get paid on a share catch basis.

“With sharks, they eat the hooks, the baits and they eat the fish and this is causing a big problem.

“I hope relevant authorities would come up with a solution to stop sharks from going into our gears.”

He said value-wise, sharks had affected about 20 to 25 per cent of their catch.

“Not only our company is feeling it, but the rest of the companies as well,” he claimed.

He said every time they shot a gear into the waters, sharks would come into their gear.

“Normally our gear goes for 25 miles to 32 miles and some 40 miles and we fish outside the 12 nautical miles range, but every day there is a shark.

“We can get 20 to 30 sharks in one catch. They are all on the database because all boats are equipped with CCTV surveillance.

“So every time a shark comes, it is recorded.”

He said nowadays, sharks were even seen everywhere.

“Before at the wharf like five years ago, you did not have sharks, but now you see sharks there and around the beaches.

“It is becoming worse not only at work out in the sea but near the shore as well.

“Before we used to kill the sharks when they used to come on their lines and gears and they used to have shark fins and since they banned the fishing of shark fins, this has increased the shark population.”

He added it was good if authorities could introduce a sort of device or a tool to get the sharks away from fishing lines.

He said in his opinion, the relevant authorities should lift the ban on shark fin for a couple of years and let the population die down and then impose the ban again.

He highlighted the species of sharks that posed a problem for fishing vessels in Fiji waters were brown sharks, white tip sharks, blue sharks, mako sharks and thresher sharks.