Conservation ethics and real-life impacts of shark protection on marginalized communities: why short-cutting conservation delays real impacts

Sharks and rays have become a well-funded focus of marine conservation advocacy work over the last decade. With increasing concern about the status of many elasmobranch species a split has emerged in the conservation community... [ view full abstract ]

Sharks and rays have become a well-funded focus of marine conservation advocacy work over the last decade. With increasing concern about the status of many elasmobranch species a split has emerged in the conservation community - some seeing sharks and rays as ‘wildlife’ to be fully protected and others seeing them as ‘fish’ that can, like other fish, be managed sustainably. These tensions play out at global fora like CITES or fisheries management organizations. During the push for high-level policy ‘wins’ often their real-world impacts on fishing communities making a marginal living are overlooked. This paper focuses on one such fishing community in Bohol, Philippines caught in the push for protection of sharks and rays. In April 2017, Jagna's century-long fishery for mobula rays that supported hundreds of families was closed with only two weeks' notice. Following the fishing ban, we documented the impact on households and struggled to support them with implementation. We worked through community organizing and with the local government to advocate participatory decision making as rushed alternative income schemes were pursued. To date, households are falling further into debt and there is evidence that with no alternative, fishing for mobulas has continued ‘underground’. The case shows the necessity of supporting not just policy ‘wins’, but long term social preparation and adaptation work. Understanding the impacts on communities and engaging them is critical if we are to tackle the challenge of implementing conservation policies that are both equitable and effective for the species they strive to protect.