I used to go fishing with my late uncle, Abdulla Rafeeq, when I lived in Fuvahmulah around 30 years ago. One beautiful sunny day, my friends and I began walking towards the beach. On that day, I didn’t go fishing. If I didn’t accompany my uncle, I’d go to the beach with my friends when he got back from fishing.
We went to the shore to see my uncle’s bokkura, a small fishing boat, which was fishing off Neregando beach.
Around 1:30 p.m., we noticed the bokkura cruising through the passageway (narrow passageways were created by blowing the reef flat, allowing fishing vessels to reach the island), heading towards the beach. While the bokkura was in the middle of the passageway, we noticed a large fish attached to one side of it. We were curious to see the huge fish.
We enquired about what it was as the bokkura approached the shoreline. “It’s a femunu miyaru (tiger shark),” explained my uncle. They couldn’t fit the shark in the vessel, so they attached it to the bokkura.
There were many people on the beach, waiting for the tuna catch. My uncle’s bokkura had a few reef fish, and the shark was the only main fish that they caught.
That big shark caught everyone’s attention on the beach. They gathered near the bokkura to help unload the huge shark and keep the massive creature on the beach. Additionally, everyone assisted in bringing the bokkura onto the beach.
A fisherman took a large knife and cut the shark’s belly. He removed 12 pups and kept them on the beach. The pups were alive. While the fisherman kept the small sharks on the beach, they started moving on the sandy surface.
We were completely immersed in the beautiful scene that we saw for the first time in our lives. Seeing the tiny, stunning sharks piqued our interest. The small baby tiger sharks measured about two and a half feet long.
We were not prepared to swim at the beach. But we were so excited to release the pups into the passageway. This mission involved approximately six of us, all of whom were around the age of twelve or thirteen.
We released the pups into the passageway. As soon as they touched the water, they swam as if they were born in the ocean. The pups darted and swam in various directions—some moved towards the reef, others headed towards the shoreline. Some pups came towards us, and we were scared they would bite. But they didn’t. And the passion with seeing the lovely creatures and attempting to release them overcame the fear.
We intended to catch all of the pups and release them into the open sea. So, we collected them from the passageway and headed to the reef front. All twelve pups were released into the open sea. The pups were all swimming in the open sea.
These magnificent pregnant female tiger sharks can gestate between 10 and 80 pups in their wombs. The pups grow within the female tiger shark for a duration of up to 15 months. Subsequently, it produces living offspring (Anderson, 2021).
That happened exactly 30 years ago on Fuvahmulah, an island known for its iconic tiger shark species. We didn’t know these species would draw tourists or that they were vital to the ecosystem. Our fisherman caught and brought the shark so we could eat its meat.
The Maldives implemented a shark fishing ban in 2010 as a result of the shark population’s decline. Sharks are an important species in the ecosystem, as well as a vital tourist attraction.
Shark fins were exported. People consumed its meat. And the livers of these species were used to produce oil for a variety of applications. The gulper shark (Kashi miyaru) was most commonly fished for its high oil yield.
The Maldivian fishing vessels known as dhoni and bokku are made of wood. To keep the vessels in excellent condition, a locally made oil, such as shark liver oil, is simple to make and extremely effective at preserving the wood.
The most common sharks caught for this purpose are tiger sharks, which have large livers, as well as whale sharks and bluntnose sixgill sharks.
There were situations when we couldn’t get tuna or other favourite fish. During those hard times, it was common to eat other kinds of fish, even sharks.
