Overfishing is the biggest threat for sharks in Indonesian waters. Can the protection of sharks and rays for tourism lead to more economic benefits for Indonesia? Researchers from the James Cook University (Australia), Cetacean Sirenian Indonesia, Wildlife Conservation Society Marine Program, The Zoological Society of London and the University of Oxford looked at the economic valueContinue Reading
NABIRE (PAPUA)- The whale sharks of Cenderawasih Bay National Park, Papua, also known as ‘The Galápagos of the East’, have become a main tourist attraction. In 2012, the park listed 1,764 foreign and local tourists and in 2016 this was over 4000 foreign and local visitors. The chance of meeting one of theContinue Reading
DOMPU (INDONESIA)- The first even great white shark has been recorded in Indonesian waters. A six metre adult male of the white shark Carcharodon carcharias was caught by demersal longliners operating off Dompu. The specimen was landed and sold at Tanjung Luar landing site in eastern Lombok. This is the first confirmedContinue Reading
RAJA AMPAT (INDONESIA)- 13 Philippine fisherman were caught illegaly fishing for sharks and turtles in the Raja Ampat Archipelago in Indonesia. All of them were sentenced to 8 months in jail while the boat and all its equipment was confiscated and destroyed. It is not uncommon for illegal fishermen toContinue Reading
JAKARTA (INDONESIA)- A new species of ‘walking shark’ has been discovered in the waters around the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It has been described in the journal Aqua and given the name epaulette (long-tailed carpet) shark, or Hemiscyllium halmahera. It was actually photographed for the first time in 2008. Two other specimens were caught by scientistsContinue Reading
BRUSSELS (BELGIUM)- Indonesia and India account for more than a fifth of global shark catches, according to the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, which published a report Into The Deep today. EU The two countries were named as the world’s biggest catchers of sharks in an EU-backed probe into implementing aContinue Reading
RAJA AMPAT (INDONESIA)- In 2005 conservationists and local villagers in the remote Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat worked together to create the Misool Eco Resort and Conservation Center, establishing a 165-square-mile “No-Take Zone” that banned fishing. These faraway islands in Western Papua, regarded by many marine experts as having theContinue Reading