ACCIDENTALLY saving sharks

When I tell you I put a lot of thought into how I hire shark fishing boats- I mean it- I hire boats at certain times of the year based on their capacity for travel in the predicted weather and ability to reach the shark fishing grounds that we believe to be hotspots.

I hire boats based on the prices in the shark fin trade and the months where I know we have the most impact, but I NEVER anticipated to be making this much of an impact...

about five months ago we introduced a roster system giving boats advanced notice of employment. Then a weird thing started happening and we started to accidentally save sharks. Our larger shark fishing boats are staying back in the months they aren't hired. The roster system has just made our impact double & the promise of consistent wage in tourism has taken even the largest shark fishing boats away from the trade.

Our new organised approach has established our commitment to the fishermen they didn't know before, in turn, they now feel comfortable withholding from fishing in months we aren't hiring them, knowing that work is guaranteed the next month. I am used to learning from my mistakes, not so used to succeeding without intention. Last month we didn't save 60 sharks per boat, we saved 120 per boat, because two boats working this month didn't go to fish.

one trips catch