Brenda the White Shark killed

The researchers of OCEARCH support work aboard the M/V OCEARCH, a unique 126' vessel equipped with a custom 55,000 hydraulic lift and research platform, which serves as both mothership and at-sea laboratory. This photograph shows the OCEARCH capture and release process. Photo: OCEARCH

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A 3.6m female White Shark, tagged in Mossel Bay on 8 March this year by the non-profit group OCEARCH and a team of leading South African scientists, was captured and killed off the coast of Mozambique.

Caught in a gill net, the shark, given the name Brenda by the OCEARCH team, was harvested by village fishermen who gave the meat to the village and sold the fins.

Chris Fischer, along with the scientists who worked with OCEARCH to tag over 30 White Sharks off the coast of South Africa, are affected by the news.

Says Fischer, "We were all saddened to hear of the demise of Brenda, a magnificent female great white shark.
"OCEARCH waited on issuing a statement until the facts were clear. Those facts, and the recovery of the transmitter, were obtained thanks to the perseverance of a team assembled by Eyes on the Horizon, a local Mozambique NGO.

"While it is unfortunate that an animal protected in South Africa has been taken in Mozambique, her transmitter tag movements on the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker (http://sharks-ocearch.verite.com) have opened the eyes of the public on how very real the threat is to shark populations around the world. A staggering number of sharks are harvested every year, the overwhelming majority of whose fate is neither tracked or revealed."

Ryan Johnson, Chief Scientist for the OCEARCH tagging expeditions, underscores the importance of regional cooperation: "Brenda's capture in Mozambique was a tragic illustration of a very real truth about Africa's large migratory sharks, that is, they do not respect national marine boundaries.

"For this region to effectively conserve sharks, we require strong and continued regional cooperation between nations."
Fischer is optimistic that sound policy can be enacted, understanding it will take cooperation between governments.

"Since we have this data point and we know that South Africa's Great White Sharks are migrating into areas that include Mozambique, a regional management plan needs to be developed.

Also, in terms of the significance of white shark related ecotourism, particularly shark cage diving in South African, it is important for the South African government to promote regional cooperation with regard to shark management."

ARTICLE: CHRIS BERGER, OCEARCH - George Herald