Sharkwater

Alliance Films

Horizon Motion Pictures

Rob Stewart is a man with a mission. He wants us to accept that sharks are not the savage predators painted by films like Jaws, but instead are a vital part of the ocean ecosystem. As the top predator in the ocean food pyramid they have held their position for millions of years, a testament to their efficiency. Now they must contend with a new predator – man.

Stewart believes that sharks have had a bad press mostly because of their curiosity. He is a skilled underwater photographer and some footage in this documentary shows just how much a swimmer looks like an injured seal, a favourite shark food. If a shark is not sure you are edible, Stewart says, it will try a test bite first. That’s why so many shark “attacks” are really only bites, not a full flesh-tearing wound. He points out that there are only five fatal shark attacks each year compared with twenty people killed by drink machines. Here is the first point that concerns me about the documentary. Where do these figures come from?

A man with no qualms whatever about promoting the dangers of sharks is William Goh, president of Rabbit Brand Shark Fins in Taiwan. He enthusiastically supports the idea of sharks as master predators and you get the idea that we should be thanking him for turning these evil beasts into useful food. He also supports the idea that shark fin contains some sort of magical property that can prevent cancer, since noone has ever seen a shark die of cancer. By eating shark fin a person can prevent cancer in themselves by some sort of transference of the shark’s magic properties. Of course, it’s a bit rough on the rest of the shark which then dies because it can’t swim.

Food? A shark fin is mostly gelatinous cartilege, quite tasteless. It is mixed into pork or chicken stock to give it “texture”. Frankly it looks disgusting but in Asia it is regarded as a prestige dish. The fins therefore command high prices - a pound of fin is worth around $200.

“There is so much money in fins that only traffic in drugs rivals the profits.”

Shark “finning” is becoming a major problem wherever there are large numbers of sharks still to be found, such as in Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria. As other areas are fished out the finners move into other countries’ waters, or even marine reserves, ruthlessly stripping the shark population until many species are now endangered.

Stewart joined Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd organization to examine and film finning in the Galapagos and Cocos in Costa Rica. Both areas are marine reserves but there is no legislation to protect them and no government support for such protection. What they found was a marine disaster. Cocos Island was a free go for the long line finners. Lines with up to sixty miles of baited hooks are run out. Any sharks caught are usually drowned. Their fins are hacked off and the carcase thrown overboard. When the Sea Shepherd was asked to intercept one finner ship by the President they had to ram it to stop it. They then towed it to port where they were arrested for attempted murder of the finners because they had rammed the finner ship. The finners themselves were not charged with anything. The amounts of money involved in finning are so great that buying political influence in such a country is cheap.

Investigating further they found an entire inlet of the port lined with private docks and warehouses serving the finning industry. Thousands of dollars’ worth of fins were drying in the sun on concealed spots on the roofs. They were destined for places like Taiwan. Realising they would never see justice in a country controlled so thoroughly by the Taiwanese “mafia”, the Sea Shepherd put to see breaking its arrest. On a later clandestine visit to the country Stewart was gratified to see public demonstrations against finning and the corruption in the government. Perhaps there is some hope after all.

In the Galapagos the situation was little different. Local fishermen had fished out their waters and now wanted to turn to finning as a source of income. When the government refused the fishermen rioted, taking National Parks workers prisoner and burning their offices. The fishermen threatened to kill the last Galapagos tortoises if they did not get their way. The Government caved in for a time and the finning industry took over until the Government reinforced the National Parks people with navy ships and closed it down.

As mentioned, the finners have now moved into other areas lured by the huge amounts of money to be made. Australia’s north is now at risk and the Australian Navy is regularly intercepting finner ships from Indonesia, Taiwan and East Timor. The documentary does not offer any suggestions on how to stop the problem at its source by educating people that shark fin is not magic nor even tasty. While ever superstition like this is promoted by people like William Goh the problem will remain and more species will vanish.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 4 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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