Researchers are protecting a population of whale shark (Rhincodon typus) off Peru’s coast by redefining local fisher’s relationship with these massive fish.
The whale shark, which can reach lengths similar to that of the height of a 6-story building, are thought to migrate over distances of thousands of miles, which makes estimating their numbers quite difficult.
Alejandra Mendoza Pfennig, a fisheries engineer, marine conservationist and researcher associated with the Peruvian NGO EcoOceanica says that thanks to the research team’s efforts, whale sharks were protected in the country in 2017 — the first shark species to be protected in Peru.
“When I arrived in the fishing communities, they told me that they saw whale sharks, but they were very afraid of them,” she says, “The fishermen thought that when the whale sharks hit their boats, they did it on purpose to turn them over so they could eat them… they didn’t know that they were harmless filter feeders.”
Mendoza explains that the researchers and conservationists have been working to change the perspective of whale sharks in the community, visiting homes and talking a lot with the fishers, who are now their “main agents of information.”
“They have gone from being afraid of them to being our collaborators, who let us know when the first sharks of the season begin to appear, with whom we go out to sea to study them and with whom we work to conserve them,” she says, adding that it was the fishers that led to the discovery of the first aggregation of whale sharks at Canoas de Punta Sal.
“This area is used by whale sharks to feed every year, between September and December,” she says, “During that time we have dedicated research trips to gather information on the biology and ecology of the species in order to improve regulations and strengthen conservation measures in Peru.
In 2023, Mendoza received grant from the New England Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund for her work on the whale shark project.
Another research group off the coast of Madagascar has identified another cluster of whale sharks, noting over 500 whale sharks in the Indian Ocean.
“Populations around the world have different characteristics, for example, different growth rates, different target prey, different characteristics in their aggregation zones (oceanic associated to oil platforms, islands, shallow coastal zones, near mangroves, etc),” Mendoza says, “It is important to know their characteristics in order to establish guidelines for their protection.
Growing up in Lima, Peru
Mendoza grew up lived in the Peruvian capital of Lima, two blocks from the ocean, waking up with the noise of the fishers with their catch.
“My dad would go to help them pull the boats out of the sea, untangle the fish and Don Victor, my fisherman friend, would always have the patience to teach me all the names and then give me a fish for my breakfast,” she says, “Through play and learning, my respect for the sea was forged, for all that it gives us and created in me an infinite curiosity to know what was beneath its surface.”
Medoza would go on to study fisheries engineering at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Peru , where she discovered her passion for sharks, then joining the ecOceanica as a trainee in 2013 and studying whale sharks in Baja California, Mexico in 2015.
“I believe that in our countries, with all the wealth that we still have, we still have a long way to go in terms of research and management,” she says, adding that ecosystems as productive as the seas off Peru are necessary to take care of in order to maintain the long-term health and productivity of the ocean.
“As scientists based in these important ecosystems, we need to generate information to promote sustainable exploitation, ensure food security and the well-being of the communities that fully depend on these ecosystems,” she says, “For me it is not only a purely ecological responsibility, but also a social one.”
Saving Sharks In Honduras
Elsewhere in Latin America, conservationists in Honduras are working with indigenous groups, among others, to both protect endangered sharks and improve the quality of life of these communities.
Marine biologist Gabriela Ochoa, executive director of Ilili, a marine conservation NGO in Honduras and a doctoral student at Florida International University, says that in 2011, in part to combat the finning trade, the government of Honduras declared the country’s exclusive economic zone as a shark sanctuary, but the decision was made without consulting the fishing communities there.
Ochoa explains that the NGO she heads was founded from this need to understand more about this fishery, and to work hand in hand with the Honduran Directorate of Fisheries and the communities of the Moskitia territory (where six different indigenous groups live) to conserve these endangered species.
“We are currently conducting fishing landings with community monitors to characterize bycatch, vital information for fisheries management,” she says, “In the coming months, we intend to conduct market surveys with the purpose of thoroughly understanding the value of this fishery, as well as its economic and social dimensions.
