TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - I Wayan Jalan casually put his hand inside a small cage with sharks inside. The 12-square meter cage was divided into three compartments and contained seven whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) from two different species and 14 blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus).
He stroked one whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus) several times, as a sign of affection. The ocean predator swiveled around in its cage. "This shark is tame and gentle. It's only because of movies that people think sharks are vicious," he told Tempo English two weeks ago.
The 47-year-old man has been working as a caretaker at the Bali Sharks Rescue Center in Denpasar, Bali, since 2012. He used to be a fisherman and a member of Karya Segara, a fishermen community. Before his job tending to sharks, Wayan's livelihood depended on catching fish at sea since 1998.
He caught many types of fish such as the Bali sardinella, grouper and red snapper. But often, when he went fishing off the coast of Serangan Island, he would catch one or two sharks.
"If I used the fishing rod, I would most likely catch one. But if I used the fishnet, sometimes I would catch three," he said.
Any shark that he caught would be sold to the market in Serangan, south of Denpasar. According to Wayan, shark meat is considered cheap. It would only fetch him Rp5,000 per kilogram. Shark's fin, on the other hand, fetched him more. "The fin went for Rp12,000 per centimeter when I was still selling it up to the early 2000s," he explained.
At the time, there were already a few shark's fin purchasers who came to Serangan to buy. He admitted that he took on jobs from the purchasers and hunted for sharks as they ordered.
Wayan decided that he would stop fishing for sharks in 2010. He realized that in the area where he usually went fishing, there were fewer and fewer sharks each year. It was a wake-up call for him.
"If I continued catching them, they'd go extinct. As someone from the coastal area, what else could I show my grandchildren in the future," said Wayan.
Before he joined Bali Sharks Rescue Center, the Balinese was active in coral reef conservation efforts because of the land reclamation around Serangan Island in 1995.
Although straying away from shark hunting took a large chunk of his income away, Wayan could finally earn as much when he began working for Bali Sharks Rescue Center. Other than being the caretaker, he also takes tourists on boat tours.
He still goes out fishing from time to time to earn extra income. But Wayan said he would only catch fish that are not endangered.
He lamented the fact that there are still fishermen in his area who hunt for sharks to fulfill the demand from collectors. But these days, fishermen rarely hunt sharks for their fins or for human consumption. "Sharks are mostly sold as decorative fish to be kept in aquariums," he said. (*)
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