More than 1,000 whale sharks accidentally entangled in fishing nets along the coasts of Gujarat and Kerala have been successfully freed and released over the last 12 months, marking what the marine conservation organisation the Wildlife Trust of India has called a ‘monumental milestone’ that “underscores the compassion of India’s fishing communities” and a stark contrast to their somewhat brutal historic relationship.

The latest rescue – marking the 1,001st – took place on the day of the Hindu harvest festival, Pongal in the waters off the city of Thiruvananthapuram. It was here, at the capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala, where fishers worked together to free a whale shark caught in a fishing net, and guided it back into the sea.

This marked the 34th rescue of its kind in Kerala to be carried out under the Wildlife Trust of India’s ‘Pan India Whale Shark Project, a campaign that was launched some eight years ago in collaboration with the Kerala Forest Department and Fisheries Department while receiving the support of VST Industries Limited – a publicly listed, Indian tobacco company.

The efforts being celebrated today first got off the ground some 20 years ago, when the Pan India Whale Shark Project launched in Gujarat with the support of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Tata Chemicals, and the Gujurat Forest Department, to combat the mass hunting of the ocean’s largest fish species. 

Much of the action was sparked thanks to the Oscar-winning documentary Shores of Silence from Mike Pandley which went lengths to highlight the crisis faced by whale sharks in Indian waters. This was followed, in 2001, by a TRAFFIC India report in which 600 whale shark landings were documented between 1999 and 2000. As a direct result, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change listed the whale shark in Schedule One of the Indian Wildlife Act, making it the first fish to receive the highest level of protection nationwide.

Since its launch, the project in Gujurat has facilitated the return of some 967 whale sharks to their natural ocean habitat. This has been attributed to an “unwavering dedication” from across various stakeholders, including local fisherfolk and Indian State Fisheries and Forest Departments. 

Furthermore, since 2011 the project has successfully tagged 11 whale sharks, contributing to emerging understanding around their migration patterns.

The campaign has encouraged an evolution of local sentiment towards the whale sharks of the Indian waters. Gujarati fishermen now willingly cut their nets and releasing whale sharks accidentally caught.

In a bid to increase the number of rescues and ensure that these fishermen don’t have to bear the costs of their nets each time they do release one, the Gujarat Forest Department now reimburses those whose nets are damaged during rescues. Further, through a Rapid Action Project, Wildlife Trust of India has since provided over 1,500 cameras to local fishermen, enabling them to document the release of the fish and get compensated by the forest department when they present the evidence.

Farukhkha Bloch, head of PAN India Whale Shark Project, Wildlife Trust of India, said: “Saurashtra coast of Gujurat hosts a preferred aggregation habitat for whale sharks to meet their biological needs, especially females to give birth to young ones and feed plankton.

“Wildlife Trust of India – in collaboration with Gujurat Forest Department – joined hands to understand the biological preferences and study the movement patterns of whale sharks off Gujurat waters.”

Wildlife Trust of India is a conservation organisation established in 1998 with a mission to conserve nature, especially endangered species and threatened habitats, in partnership with communities and governments. Its work for whale sharks over the last two decades is a strong testament to the power of such collaboration, particularly one that integrates local knowledge and sensibility. 

In fact, over the last 25 years, Wildlife Trust of India has saved more than 42,000 animals and has trained more than 20,000 frontline forest staff while assisting the Indian government in creating seven Protected Areas and protected almost 1,200 square kilometres of natural habitat including mangroves and coral reefs.

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