Photo shows the Grey Carpetshark, which Iqbal released back into the sea.
MIRI: An endangered Grey Carpetshark, which was being sold at a local market here, received a lucky break when the right buyer came along.
Malaysian Nature Society Miri chairman Iqbal Abdollah recently found the shark, which is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list as ‘near threatened’, being sold at RM5 per kg.
“Since I had already seen it, I just bought it off the fish trader and released it back into the sea,” Iqbal told thesundaypost when contacted yesterday.
“This was the second time I did it and this time it was more meaningful, because I brought along my elder daughter. The young ones need such experiences because hands on experience would enable them to be more understanding and of course, to follow in the footsteps.”
Iqbal said he did not blame the fishmonger as most of the sharks sold are by-catch.
However, he pointed out many sellers are ignorant about how important such marine creatures are to the ecosystem as well as eco-tourism.
He hopes to educate local fishermen so they would release the sharks back into the sea.
“If it was dead when caught in the net, they have the option to release it into the ocean and let nature do their thing, or they could eat it themselves without the need to sell it off,” he said.
“More importantly, in diving tourism industry, divers look forward to seeing it alive in the ocean. Whether caught on purpose or by-catch, both do damage to the species. not only could this cause the species to become endangered, but it could negatively impact the local diving tourism industry.”
He added Grey Carpetsharks are also often caught alive for aquariums.