call of the wild
NEW ZEALAND
SHARKS:
GOOD
NEWS,
BAD
NEWS
“It’s not cork popping time yet”, says shark
scientist and expert Riley Elliott about the
government’s recent proposal to bring forward
the ban on all shark finning. “But still amazing
news, and a great result for what has been three-
odd years of lots of people’s hard work.”
A ban on shark finning was to be introduced in
New Zealand waters starting October 2014, but
this did not include all species, especially the
blue shark. The
good
news is that due to public
outrage – over 45,000 signatures were submitted
to lawmakers – the date for a ban on finning of
blue sharks has now been brought forward to
this October, in line with banning of finning of
other shark species.
Riley is opposed to all killing, as sharks provide
an essential environmental function in the
balance of nature. “And there are animal cruelty
reasons not to fin sharks”, he says. But the
overriding reason is “the risk of unsustainable
fishing. Overfished shark stocks cannot recover
as quickly as other fish species.”
Fishers were previously banned by the Animal
Welfare Act from finning and returning the
live
shark to the water to die a painful death. Finners
got around this by killing the finned sharks and
dumping the carcasses in the sea. So now this
loophole has now been closed.
On April 22, UK long distance swimmer Adam
Walker completed the sixth of his Oceans 7
channel swims across the Cook Strait. However,
he had an unwelcome guest, a great white shark
that swam beneath him.
All this effort about saving the sharks of New
Zealand, but this group of Kiwi dolphins
formed a “Save the Swimmer Project”. An
impressive escort pod of ten dolphins quickly
surrounded Adam and accompanied him until
the shark swam off.
“I’d like to think they were protecting me and
guiding me home!” he wrote on his Facebook
page. Perhaps they are expressing their
gratitude for Walker’s swims to raise money
for
Whale And Dolphin Conservation
“to help
protect these wonderful mammals”.
You can contribute and find out more online at
Riley is encouraged, but says we need to keep
up the pressure “to ensure that the government’s
words are followed through by legislative action.
What is important is to do this once, and to do it
right.” And that means “not allowing loopholes
or other forms of harvesting”.
An optimistic Riley was interviewed on TV news
programmes in late May to discuss recent
developments, and his 10-episode TV series
Sharkman
will be screened on TV1 in late
September to keep the information flowing.
Riley’s associate, filmmaker Mike Bhana, has
also been crucial in helping the public to
see
as
well as understand the issues.
“To celebrate the end of the filming, I am off to
Hawaii to work alongside Ocean Ramsey again”,
shares Riley, “further developing our plans to
better educate people on sharks.” Hawaiian-
born Ocean is also noted for her work as a shark
expert and conservationist. They are working
together on the
Shark Whisperer
TV series, and
plan to have a book out by Christmas about their
favourite topic: sharks!
The bad news? Last issue of
Coromandel Life
we covered Riley’s work of tagging and tracking
a number of sharks in New Zealand waters and
studying their migration paths. Tracking signals
from many of Riley’s sharks have been lost, and
he assumes they have been caught and finned.
Follow “Riley Elliott - Shark Scientist” on FB or see
DOLPHINS PROTECT
LONG DISTANCE
SWIMMER
FROM A
SHARK
Shark scientist Riley Elliott feeds a shark as part of
his monitoring project.
- Photo by Mike Bhana
07 864 8811 Open from4pm 227Main Rd - TaiRua
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longtime Chef
Nathaniel Blomfield
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Successful kiwi rescue
Auckland zoo vets and keepers looked after
this cute chick which was rescued from the
side of the road in Coromandel by Project
Kiwi Trust staff. The little kiwi was recently
released on pest-free Motutapu Island.
47
BIG WIN FOR NZ SHARKS
Government strengthens ban on finning
