By AFP | 2024-10-17

A lone catamaran named Silky patrols the treacherous waters surrounding Malpelo Island, a remote Colombian sanctuary teeming with endangered marine life.

Despite its protected status, this Pacific paradise faces constant threats.

Its crew of environmentalists is the terror of boats illegally fishing for sharks inside the reserve some 500km off mainland Colombia -- one of the richest countries in terms of marine fauna.

Without weapons or backup, the activists shoo away intruders' vessels, threaten to report them to the authorities and even dive underwater to cut sharks loose if they are caught in nets or on lines.

Active round the clock since 2018, the team of shark lovers claims to be turning the tide in the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, a mecca for divers and the largest no-fishing zone in the eastern tropical Pacific.

Containing the threat

"The success of the project can be seen in the fact that they [the illegal fishers] do not return," said Colombian diver Erika Lopez, who created the foundation Biodiversity Conservation Colombia with the help of an Australian philanthropist.

The project was born from what the activists view as a lack of official shark protection, with the navy arresting illegal fishers only if it happens to come across them on routine patrols against drug traffickers and other territorial intruders.

Due to play host of the United Nations (UN) COP16 biodiversity conference starting October 21, Colombia's vast Pacific coastline is on a key migratory route for hammerhead sharks, whale sharks and other species, many of them endangered.

But the bountiful waters of the sanctuary attract vessels from far and wide, many from neighboring Ecuador, others from Panama and Costa Rica in the Caribbean or even China, where shark fin is a delicacy.

Lopez's foundation claims the crew of the Silky -- the name of a type of shark -- has rescued 508 animals alive since 2018, scared away 302 boats and confiscated more than 70,000 meters of fishing line.

Since last December, the foundation reports it has not spotted any fishing boats near Malpelo island in the reserve of more than 850,000 hectares recognized as a UNESCO heritage site.

"We try as much as possible to take the equipment away from them, to free the species that are trapped; that's the main mission," 53-year-old Dario Ortiz, an artisanal fisherman-turned-environmentalist, told AFP aboard the Silky.

But it is a full-time effort.

"This boat has to be basically 24/7, 365 days a year containing this threat," said Lopez, 51, who dreams of upscaling the project to a flotilla of vessels dedicated to conservation and science in the Pacific.

Rich and desirable

On the high seas, far from Malpelo island, a Colombian navy warship patrols an area teeming with hammerhead sharks, marlins and other endangered creatures.

On a recent mission with AFP on board, it arrested three Ecuadorian fishermen found with a highly valuable haul of silky, hammerhead and blacktip sharks, sailfish and four blue marlins -- all still alive.

"The Colombian Pacific is very rich, and it is desirable," said Adm. Rafael Aranguren.

With "our ships we can reach this part of the territory and exercise controls so that they do not illegally exploit these riches, so that they do not harm the environment."

In 2020, the government of former president Ivan Duque banned shark fishing, both industrial and small scale, to try to protect marine stocks.

But faced with an outcry from Afro-Caribbean fishing communities on the Pacific coast that eat and sell shark meat, President Gustavo Petro in January partly repealed the ban.

The government decreed that small-scale fishermen may keep and consume sharks accidentally caught in nets meant for other, unrestricted fish species.

The decision caused outrage among conservationists who view it as a license to kill.

The navy estimates it has arrested 30 suspects so far this year in connection with charges of illegal fishing in Colombian waters.

Between 2012 and 2022, authorities seized more than 334 tons of illegally harvested fish meat, according to the Ministry of Environment.

The country does not keep a record of sharks that fall victim to illegal fishing.