After leopard shark in tanks, a barge hurting the reef

 

The giant barge sitting on top of the reef off Mabul Island. (Christina Liew pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah tourism, culture and environment minister Christina Liew has told the state authorities to probe claims that rare marine species including an endangered shark is being kept in a tank at a restaurant here.

This is after the images were shared by conservationists through the Sabah Shark and Ray Initiative (SSRI) showing a zebra shark, also known as the leopard shark, being confined in a tank inside the restaurant’s eating area.

Besides that, a juvenile Napoleon wrasse was also kept in the tank with the shark, with an adult female Napoleon wrasse in another tank alongside it.

All the species are listed as “Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of species at risk of extinction.

Liew said it does not bode well for the government’s image if “there is no law enforceability”.

“I urge the Sabah fisheries department to get to the root of the issue,” she said in a statement today.

Nick Pilcher, Marine Research Foundation founder and executive director, said he was appalled by the images, saying he feared the worst.

“It is disheartening to see this threatened shark being kept like this in a restaurant – we can only presume it is there to be sold as food, which is shocking,” he said.

The zebra shark or leopard shark being kept in a tank at the restaurant. (Sabah Shark and Ray Initiative pic)

Conservationists lamented, however, that despite their endangered status, neither species is protected by law in Sabah, outside of the Sabah Parks gazetted areas.

A group of NGOs are pursuing this issue as part of the SSRI. They include LEAP Spiral, Forever Sabah, WWF-Malaysia, Marine Research Foundation, Scuba Junkie SEAS, and the Sabah Shark Protection Association.

Meanwhile, Liew also expressed sadness over reports of an alleged destruction of the reef at a world-famous dive site near Mabul Island, off the east coast of Sabah.

She said she had received feedback from tourism players and environmentalists who were dismayed over the incident.

“They have spent years protecting this creation of nature, only to be demolished by irresponsible humans.

“This state of affairs warrants an explanation from the state tourism, culture and environment ministry, which is entrusted with the responsibility of conserving Sabah’s precious natural heritage,” she said.

In a joint statement, resort operators and NGOs said the damage caused by the giant barge took place in the early hours of this morning at Paradise One, which is one of Mabul’s famous dive sites.

The world-famous dive site is favoured by many international divers, and is also home to rare species of coral – many of which were identified in WWF-Semporna’s prestigious Hard Coral Mapping Project.

A resort manager on the island, who requested anonymity, said they tried to intervene.

“When we saw the barge stationed off the reef, I went and spoke to the contractor based on the island and explained that this size of barge was too big to safely land on Mabul, and that he would need to use a barge one-third of the size.”

They explained that the draft of the barge was larger than the water space available even at high tide, and that if the contractor tried to land the barge it would then get stuck on the coral reef and cause considerable damage.

“I’m so sad that the contractor did not heed my advice or warnings. The damage is devastating to see,” the manager said.

Adzmin Fatta, co-Founder of local conservation group Green Semporna said it was terrible to hear about the damage to this reef.

“We have been carrying out successful marine conservation outreach programmes with the local community on Pulau Mabul for many years now. Many of our volunteers are horrified to know of the damage (as) we carried out many beach clean ups in that particular area to protect the corals there.” - FMT