The Impact of Shark Liver Oil Trade on the Conservation and Management of Threatened Shark Species in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2021-06-14
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
For decades shark fishery in the world has been one of the economic activities to most fishing villages including those in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The trade of live sharks and shark products has been one of the international trades that pose a major threat in the existence of sharks worldwide. However, information on the impact of shark liver oil trade in the conservation and management of threatened shark species in Zanzibar, Tanzania is so far lacking.
This study aimed to determine the impact of the shark liver oil trade in the conservation and management of threatened shark species in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The study used focus group discussion, structured and unstructured questionnaires, key informant interviews, and shark oil sampling. Additionally, acidic value and viscosity of the shark liver oil and shark catch landings were also used as sources of data for this study.
The findings of this study reveal that species like Tiger shark, Sickletin lemon shark, Bull shark, Giant guitarfish, and Shortfin mako shark were the most prone species to shark liver oil trade. Additionally, shark oil of Giant guitarfish was the most preferred shark oil for wooden boat maintenance with viscosity of 10.3 m2 s−1 and 70.5 mg NaOH/g acid value however, less in quantity production of 60 liters of shark liver oil. Whilst, tiger shark with 360 liters of shark liver oil, was the shark specie with higher quantity of shark liver oil. However, elasmobranchs catch landings have increased up to 1.7 million tons per year in 2020 which implies the continued exploitation of elasmobranchs in the Island compared to other years after the banning of production and trading of shark products in Zanzibar. This has been accelerated due to verbal restriction of shark products, less enforcement of the rules, increase in the foreign fishing vessels and unaccountability on the part of government officers. However, banning of shark products trade has affected the livelihood of shark fishermen by 92%, hence low wages gain in the trade and fishermen struggles in providing for their family needs.
Overall, the continued trading of the shark liver oil affects the conservation and management of all IUCN listed threatened shark species in Zanzibar as majority of them are also overexploited for meat and fin trade in the region. Results of this study show that besides the shark fin and meat trade, shark liver oil also affect the shark conservation and is a contributing factor. Strong management and conservation strategic plan and use of shark oil alternatives are highly required to regulate the status of shark species prone to this kind of trade in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Description
Keywords
Impact of Shark, Liver Oil Trade, Conservation, Management, Threatened Shark Species, Zanzibar, Tanzania