Bronze shark fishing can sink cage diving industry

Writer: De Waal Steyn.

The billion-rand shark cage diving industry in Gansbaai faces a bleak future if fishermen continue to catch bronze whaler sharks, despite shark cage diving operators paying hundreds of thousands of rands to fishermen not to catch these sharks, says Wilfred Chivell, owner of Marine Dynamics in Kleinbaai.

This issue came to a head on Wednesday 19 February when fishermen started catching these sharks, also known as copper sharks or bronzies, in full view of shark cage diving tourists. The small population of bronze whaler sharks has provided great viewing opportunities for tourists and has ensured the viability of the shark cage diving industry during a time when great white shark sightings are more infrequent due to a variety of reasons.

“Because bronze whalers are not a protected species the Great White Shark Protection Foundation (GWSPF), a collective group of tourist operators, conservationists and shark scientists in Kleinbaai, realised that the potential conflict between the non-consumptive tourist industry and the commercial and recreational shark fisheries could mean the death knell for their industry,” says Chivell.

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