Gujarat Fishers Save 1,029 Whale Sharks After Switch

The fishermen of Gujarat's Veraval coast spend their days looking for stars, not in the sky, but swimming beneath their boats.

They're searching for whale sharks, one of the world's largest fish species, covered in distinctive spots and stripes. But these fisherfolk aren't hunting them anymore. They're saving them.

Ratilal Bamaniya, 47, remembers when things were different. In the late 1990s, he and other fishermen would earn up to Rs 1,50,000 per whale shark, selling their fins for Chinese soup and using their liver oil to waterproof boats. The "stars in the water" meant quick money.

Everything changed in 2004. Department officials and spiritual leader Morari Bapu held meetings across Gujarat's coastal villages. They asked fishermen to see whale sharks differently, comparing them to harmless deer in a forest that deserve protection, not slaughter.

The shift started with filmmaker Mike Pandey's 2000 documentary "Shores of Silence," which revealed the whale shark's plight. The Indian government responded by listing the species under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, granting it the country's highest legal protection.

But legal protection meant little without community support. That's when the Wildlife Trust of India launched the Gujarat Whale Shark Conservation Project to teach fishermen how to safely release accidentally entangled sharks.

The fishermen faced a real problem though. Freeing a trapped whale shark meant cutting their fishing nets, which cost them money. In 2007, the Gujarat government started compensating fishermen Rs 25,000 (now Rs 50,000) for damaged nets during rescue efforts.

The compensation worked. Fishermen became rescue teams, carefully cutting their own nets to free the gentle giants. Since the campaign began, coastal communities across Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, and Goa have rescued 1,029 whale sharks from certain death.

Ratilal's transformation inspired his son Mohit, 24, who now works as a Wildlife Trust of India field biologist. He tags rescued whale sharks to track their migration patterns, gathering data that proves Gujarat's coast is likely a breeding ground where these endangered animals give birth.

The Ripple Effect: The whale shark rescue network demonstrates how conservation works best when communities benefit from protection. Fishermen who once saw whale sharks as paychecks now understand their role in ocean health. They've formed committees and become advocates, sharing rescue techniques with neighboring villages. The program expanded from Gujarat to a Pan India Whale Shark Conservation Project, addressing the three biggest threats these animals face: accidental entanglement, boat collisions, and plastic pollution. By working with fishing communities instead of against them, conservationists created a model that values both ocean life and the livelihoods of people who depend on the sea.

Today, when Ratilal spots stars in the water, he steers his boat around them, protecting creatures he once hunted without a second thought.