Utility value of the fish

The fins of a whale shark are highly sought after in countries like Taiwan and China. Though its use in India is not known, it can fetch good money if exported to such countries. Fin soup is considered to be a delicacy in Taiwan. It is also believed to have medicinal properties and hence is also harvested for medicinal use.

The meat of the whale shark is exported to Taiwan and some south-east Asian countries. It is considered a delicacy in some cultures and is often called ‘tofu shark’ because the texture of its meat is similar to that of tofu.

Oil derived from the liver of the whale shark is much sought after by fishermen. It is used as a water-proofing material for boats. The oil is believed to prevent decay of wood which stays in touch with sea water for a long time.

The carcass of a whale shark has got the forest department investigating as to how exactly it landed in the sea near Madavad coast in Kodinar taluka. Forest officials admitted that post-mortem revealed that the liver of the fish was indeed missing.

“It appears that the liver has been removed. Preliminary investigation indicates the fish was killed somewhere else and dumped here. But nothing can be said till the investigation is over,” said chief wildlife warden CN Pandey on Monday.

The whale shark was found with three cuts, each 3 feet deep. It was first spotted by a few fishermen on Saturday afternoon who then informed the forest department. Dinesh Goswami of Prakruti Nature Club said this is the first instance of a whale shark being found with its liver missing since the programme to save the fish began. “Earlier, we would hear cases of it happening but as no whale shark was ever found, it was difficult to corroborate it. But now with this case, it is clear that someone is poaching on these fishes as their liver is of great value.

The matter needs to be thoroughly investigated,” said Goswami. He said that the forest department should immediately start looking for boats that may have been water-proofed with whale shark liver oil.

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) strongly denied the allegations that the camera given to fishermen to take pictures of whale sharks caught in their net could have in some way encouraged poaching. It was an initiative by the forest department and WTI to arm the fishermen with cameras, to reduce the stress on sharks. “Following our whale shark campaign, fishermen began to proactively release whale sharks caught in their nets. Earlier, boats would have to drag the fish to areas where they would get mobile signals, then wait for the rescue team to arrive and then release the fish.

Giving them cameras would mean the stress on the fish would reduce considerably. This was accepted by the forest department and at their request we provided cameras to the fishermen in Veraval, Sutrapada and Dhamlej. It is not fair to accuse the fishing community of exploiting this effort based on speculations,” said Sheren Shrestha, head-communications at WTI.

He said that the fishermen not only had to give pictures of the shark caught in their net but also of the net being cut and the shark released.