Ethical souvenirs

With a rapid rise of tourism in Maldives the islands have increased the production of unsustainable souvenirs from the ocean, including corals, sponges, sharks teeth, sea shells and black coral. There are numerous Maldivian handicrafts from coconut crafts, cior making, wood carving, woven mats and lacquerwork. Thuahaadhoo in Baa Atoll is famed for its lacquerwork handicrafts, or "liyelaa jehun" as it is called in Dhivehi so Soneva Fushi hosts went to check it out. 

The Maldivian craftsmen who practice "liyelaa jehun" create intricate designs on carved wooden objects such as vases and jewellery boxes. The craftsman sculpts the desired form out of a simple block of wood. The finished design is then coated, layer by layer, with lacquer of various colours, usually black, orange, green and yellow. For those pieces that are extra-special, the craftsman will sometimes even use gold and silver dust to give the finished product an additional level of exoticness. The finished piece is then polished with dry coconut leaves until it gleams. The end result is sleek, shiny and etched with fine intricate designs - a work of traditional Maldivian art.

Meeting the Island Councillor of Thuaadhoo

The lacquerwork workshop

In action

Wood carvings

The finished products

You can help support local communities and help to preserve this tradition through purchasing these unique 100% Maldivian lacquerworks which are sold in our shops.

Sharks in the Maldives

Sharks: key species in a vast ocean

Sharks are vital in maintaining marine biodiversity, as they are the top predators in ocean food chains. The removal of sharks is affecting marine ecosystems and the abundance of fish species, having cascading effects throughout the entire oceanic food web. Sharks also remove unhealthy and weak individuals from large schools of prey, leaving much stronger and healthier populations that are able to adapt and withstand other pressures. Sharks are key species in a vast ocean.  

  

Shark fin soup: a global pressure

Globally, over 100 million sharks are killed annually, often as by-catch, but primarily for shark fin soup trade, which is at an all-time high. As affluence grows in Asia, so does the market for such a luxury item. One recent study estimated that fins from between 26 and 73 million sharks are traded globally each year. Shark species have slow growth, late maturity and low fecundity resulting in wide generation gaps and low regeneration rates in the population. These factors render sharks extremely vulnerable to over-exploitation, with population declines of over 99% recorded for several species in certain oceans. 

A very cruel method is used to collect shark fins. The shark is hauled up on deck, its fins sliced off, and the animal, often still alive, is thrown back into the sea to where it sinks to the bottom and drowns.

Huge floating factories from foreign countries are known to anchor outside territorial waters, encouraging local fishermen to supply them with shark fins, which retail at up to $1,000 per kilo. If we continue to kill these animals at this current rate, they will be extinct within just a few decades. 

 

Sharks in Maldives

Mohamad Zahir, co-founder of Ecocare, reports how the demand for shark products has developed to a point where the Maldivian shark populations are becoming endangered: “We Maldivians face a great dilemma. The shark populations in the seas surrounding the Maldives are decreasing. There is a reason for this. Although, justly renowned for its tuna fishery, Maldives has also had a minor shark fishery for centuries. Our forefathers had a traditional shark fishery known as “Maa Keyolhu kan” using a huge locally-made hook, to target certain sharks species known to have enormous livers from which oil extracts were used to maintain the wooden hulls of dhonies.”

This ancient use of sharks began to change in the early 1960’s, with the introduction of Japanese long lining. Even then, shark fishing was very much a part-time activity. In more recent years, due to the mechanical methods of fishing, expansion of the export market for shark products and the increased number of tourists, shark fishing became a full time activity for some fishermen which has significantly depleted the shark populations.

 

The Six Senses Shark Campaign

Eva Shivdasani, co-founder of Soneva Fushi, has tirelessly campaigned against the tragic loss of sharks due to the unjustifiable cruelty of shark fishing in which sharks are butchered simply for their fins. Eva has actively driven campaigns to get many restaurants around the world to stop serving shark fin soup and played a big part in getting the Maldivian governments both old and new to agree to ban shark fishing.

Soneva Fushi and Soneva Gili have supported the drive to save the sharks for many years, and boycott any supplier or shop that sells shark items. Together with local activists, nearby resorts and inter-national conservation groups, Soneva Fushi has been working to get a nationwide ban on shark fishing imposed. The resort sent out emails and letters to nearly 90 tourist resorts, 70 dive centres, approx. 300 travel agents in the Maldives and tour operators worldwide, hoping to get their support for the campaign. It also developed informative leaflets, funded a TV campaign and initiated discussions with local authorities to highlight the detrimental effects of shark-fishing to marine ecosystems and the tourism and fishing industries.

 

Progress
A fund to help shark fishermen find alternative livlihoods was launched by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture on World Oceans Day, June 8th 2010, funded in part by the World Wide Fund for Nature and resorts in Maldives. The funds raised through the Shark Fund were spent on training opportunities for fishermen, aricultural projects, buying back of shark fishing gear and on promoting alternative livelihoods for shark fishermen. The regulation that came into effect on July 1st, 2010 imposed a complete ban on fishing for any species of sharks within twelve miles from the atoll rim of all atolls of the Maldives. 

Juvenile sharks return to Soneva Fushi’s lagoon

For the first time since 2007, juvenile black tip reef sharks are being found in abundance in our house reef. This is fantastic news for the shark populations of Baa Atoll. Lets hope these sightings continue.

How you can help

Refuse to buy souvenirs made of sharkskin, cartilage or teeth and avoid restaurants that serve shark fin soup. If we stop buying products made from sharks, then fishermen around the world will be encouraged to stop the shark trade.

 

Six Senses and Biosphere Expeditions launch reef educational booklet for Maldivian children

Six Senses Maldives properties have sponsored renowned international conservation organisation Biosphere Expeditions to produce a reef educational book for children in the Maldives.


The book has been designed to inspire the younger generation on the wealth of marine life of Maldivian reefs. It explains how climate change and various other impacts are putting increasing pressure on these ecosystems –the aim is to inspire children to look after their reefs and understand a bit more about marine protected areas and how each and every one of us can reduce our impact.


“The Adventures of Anees the Anemonefish” was produced by the Land and Marine Environmental Resources (LaMer) Group, Biosphere Expeditions, Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and Soneva Fushi by Six Senses to increase awareness of threats to our coral reefs in children throughout the Maldives.

The Adventures of Anees the Anemonefish will be launched on 3 September in Male’ where 2000 copies will be handed over to the Ministry of Education.

For a full story, please see the Visit Maldives website: http://www.visitmaldives.com/en/environment-friendly-tourism/biosphere-expeditions

To download a full copy of the book please visit:

 http://www.biosphere-expeditions.org/images/stories/pdfs/education/Maldives%20educational%20booklet.pdf

Why Soneva Fushi has taken grouper off the menu

The Maldives grouper fishery is declining, and along with it, the livelihoods of local fishermen. Approximately 7100 million tonnes of reef fish are purchased annually by resorts alone –three times the estimated amount being purchased in the late 80s, and groupers specifically are also targets of a fishery that supplies East Asian markets. Groupers are long lived, some living to 100 years old. It takes many years for grouper to become reproductively active. At present, groupers are being taken off the reef before they have had chance to reproduce which is leading to dramatic declines in the grouper population of the Maldives. Surveys conducted between 2002-2004 found 43% of total grouper catch to be below maturity length. In other words, 43% of the Maldives catch had not had chance to reproduce to replenish the population.  It is highly unsustainable to fish grouper, and as such, Soneva Fushi has taken grouper off the menu. 

 

Surveys conducted in Maldives between 2002-2004 found
43% of total grouper catch to be below maturity length.

Why Six Senses do not target billfish

Billfish, sailfish, spearfish, marlin… what’s the difference?

Marlin, sailfish and spearfish are all billfish, and their populations are being decimated by overfishing.

 The Lions and Tigers of the Sea

Unfortunately, although marlin and other billfish are among the biggest and fastest fish in the sea - top predators with little to fear from other predators - they are also among the most threatened. Overfishing has reduced their numbers to only a fraction of what they were just decades ago. And by removing so many predators from the top of the ocean food chain, we are putting entire ecosystems – and the vast diversity of life they support – at risk. 

Marlin, sailfish and other big ocean predators play a crucial role in the sea’s ecology. Like lions and tigers on land, they are apex predators, helping to maintain a healthy balance in marine ecosystems by promoting stability, structure and predictability.

Ironically, top predators are in ways more vulnerable than their prey in that they are generally longer-lived, reach reproductive maturity at a later age, and take longer to recover from overfishing. When predators disappear, the effects cascade down throughout the food web, disrupting entire communities of life.

Photo by John Schwartz

Take Marlin off the Menu Campaign

Six Senses are passionate about sustainable fishing -many overfished species such as billfish have not been served on our menus for many years.  In line with Six Senses policies, the Six Senses group has taken a pledge to “Take Marlin Off the Menu” as a reminder of the significance of the declining billfish in our oceans.

Soneva Fushi is encouraging resorts in Maldives to follow suit by signing the pledge to Take Marlin Off the Menu, as well as to stop targeting billfish during guest fishing excursions.

The billfish situation in the world’s oceans 

In the Atlantic Ocean…

Blue marlin and white marlin are overfished and overfishing is still continuing. Attempts to do quantitative assessments on sailfish have not been successful due to lack of accurate catch and effort data from all harvesters, but trends in catch-per-unit-effort – an indicator of stock abundance – have fallen consistently since the 1970s.

In the Pacific Ocean…

Black marlin: There has never been an assessment of the status of black marlin but landings trends over the past thirty years have been generally declining. There have been contradictory results in recent assessments of Pacific blue marlin status.  Some assessments show the stock to be fully exploited.  In contrast research done in 2002 to develop a broad-based estimate of pelagic ecosystem species shows that blue marlin had declined the most in abundance of any of these tuna-like species being at only 21% of their pre-1960 abundance. No conservation measures are in place for either blue marlin or black marlin on the Pacific high seas. There has been no effort to assess the status of sailfish or spearfish species in the Pacific, however recent catch-per-unit-effort data from the recreational fishery off of Central America has generated cause for concern.

In the Indian Ocean…

The Indian Ocean high seas fisheries are the responsibility of the Indian Ocean tuna commission (IOTC). The Indian Ocean is home to blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin and sailfish. Although fishing pressure on tunas has increased dramatically in recent years and tuna catches have dropped precipitously over the last two years, there is no assessment and little useable data available to determine the health of marlin populations. The IOTC cannot advise on the status of these billfish species and no conservation measures are in place.

The overfishing of Indian Ocean Billfish in the 90’s has
lead to an alarming decline in catches of billfish.
Data taken from the Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission Database (1959-2008).

As a leading eco resort,

Soneva Fushi does not target billfish.

For more information on billfish, please visit:

http://www.takemarlinoffthemenu.org