A lone catamaran named “Silky” patrols the waters around the remote island of Malpelo, a haven that is safe yet fraught with danger for endangered marine species in the Colombian Pacific.
Its team of environmentalists is terrorizing boats illegally fishing for sharks inside the reserve – one of the richest countries in terms of marine life – about 500 kilometers (310 miles) off mainland Colombia.
Without weapons or backup, activists chase away intruding vessels, threaten to report them to authorities, even dive underwater to harvest sharks entangled in nets or lines.
Active around the clock since 2018, the team of shark-lovers claims to be changing the situation in the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, a mecca for divers and the largest no-fishing zone in the eastern tropical Pacific.
“The success of the project can be seen in the fact that they (illegal fishermen) do not return,” said Erica Lopez, a Colombian diver who created the Biodiversity Conservation Colombia Foundation with the help of an Australian philanthropist.
The project was born out of what activists see as a lack of official shark protection, with the Navy arresting illegal fishermen only when they come across them on routine patrols against drug traffickers and other territorial intruders.
Due to host the UN COP16 biodiversity conference starting next Monday, Colombia’s vast Pacific coastline is on a major migratory route for hammerhead sharks, whale sharks and other species, many of which are endangered.
But the sanctuary’s abundant waters attract ships from far and wide, many from neighboring Ecuador, others from Panama and Costa Rica in the Caribbean or even from China, where shark fin is a delicacy.
The Lopez Foundation claims the crew of the Silky – the name of a type of shark – has rescued 508 animals, sunk 302 boats and seized more than 70,000 meters of fishing line since 2018.
Since last December, the foundation reports that it has not seen any fishing boats near Malpelo Island in the more than 850,000-hectare reserve recognized as a UNESCO heritage site.
“We try to get the equipment as far away from them as possible, to free the trapped species, that’s the main mission,” Dario Ortiz, 53, a fisherman turned environmentalist, told AFP on board. “Silky.”
But it is a full-time endeavor.
“This boat will basically have to protect against this threat 24/7, 365 days a year,” said Lopez, 51, who dreams of expanding the project to a flotilla of vessels dedicated to conservation and science in the Pacific. Are.
rich and desirable
On the high seas, off the island of Malpelo, a Colombian navy warship also patrols an area teeming with hammerhead sharks, marlin and other endangered creatures.
On a recent mission with the AFP, it arrested three Ecuadorian fishermen who found a highly valuable consignment of silky, hammerhead and blacktip sharks, sailfish and four blue marlin – all still alive.
Admiral Rafael Aranguren said, “The Colombian Pacific is very rich and it is desirable.”
“With our ships we can access and control this part of the territory so that they do not exploit these riches illegally, so that they do not damage the environment.”
In 2020, the government of former President Iván Duque banned industrial and small-scale shark fishing to protect marine reserves.
But facing an outcry from African-Caribbean fishing communities on the Pacific coast, which depend on catching sharks for meat to eat and sell, outgoing President Gustavo Petro partially rescinded the ban in January.
The government mandated that small-scale fishermen may keep and consume sharks accidentally caught in nets meant for other, unrestricted, fish species.
The decision sparked outrage among conservationists who see it as a license to kill.
The Navy estimates it has arrested 30 people so far this year on charges of illegal fishing in Colombian waters.
According to the Environment Ministry, between 2012 and 2022, authorities seized more than 334 tons of illegally harvested fish meat.
The country does not keep records of sharks that fall victim to illegal fishing.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
