Manga:
Lessons on the Bycatch Problem
Part 2, Sharks

Artist: Takahiro Chuma
Project Design: Toru Kitamura (Japan NUS)
Translation: Shelley Clarke

GLOBAL GUARDIAN TRUSTProﬁle of the Author

Takahiro Chuma
Manga Artist
Born in Kagoshima Prefecture in December 1980.
Signature Works: Debut in 2004 with GOIN INGA GO GO.

In writing this manga, many specialists provided their advice and suggestions.
They are warmly thanked for their input.
March 2008 Global Guardian Trust

With the assistance of the Environment Restoration and Conservation
Agency of Japan, Japan Fund for Global Environment
With support from the National Association of Fisheries High School Training Vessel Operators, the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries,
Fisheries Research Agency, Japan, and the Japan NUS Co.,Ltd.

Its nice tohave dinner
in the garden
from time totime, isn't it?

Why are you
so excited
Takuya?

Oh! I'vebeen
waiting
for this!!

We'rehavingshark
dumplings

Shark
dumplings...

problem?

that's thefirst step
towardsolving thebycatch
problem.

These aregreat!!

1For usfishermen,

its a problem
when sharks
are mixed inwith our othercatchWell, this isimportant!

You'resounding
like a real
fishermen
already

Isn't it called"bycatch" when
species that you
don't intend tocatch end up
being caught
alongside tuna?

sharks andsea turtles
and seabirds,etc.

That'srightbut...

2

arecampaigningto ban sharkfinning.

Why dotheywant toban it?

they also givereasons likecruelty, and an
extinction crisis
for sharks

Catching
sharks iswrong!

Now,
environmental
protectiongroups inwesterncountries

Yeah,
that'sright,
the highclassChinese
dish

Shark
fins?
Like inshark finsoup?

There aresome boats
that takethe fins only.
Because sharkmeat is cheap
they throw itaway.

we don't
needanything
exceptthe fins3

The sharkmeat we'reeating right
now wascaught byJapaneseboats

But not allboats aredoing thissashimi, ground fish meat (surimi, fish cake)cartilage (medicinal products)

all of theseteeth
products
can bemade from accessories
sharksinternal organs

fins
soup

healthsupplements,
makeup,leathercases

its madefromsharkleatherand isincrediblystrongandpractical

4

All thedifferent partsof sharks havepractical uses

belts

that's why
Takuyabought methisif shark
catches areprohibitedit seems thatthe tuna thatare caught
alongsidethese sharks
will also be
prohibited

althoughsharksare sopracticallyusefulInotherwords……

wefishermen
might beprevented
fromfishinglonglines!!

why wemust
promoteawarenessof theirpractical
value

this is why I
think we can't
recklessly
use sharks
and5oh, thatwould beterriblethere's really
not anything
effective likethat

tori poleand baittechniques

cutting likethis

but if this isdone for all
sharks thecost of thehooks and lines
lost will be too
greatIs there sometechnique, likefor seabirds andsea turtles, thatcan be used?
etc.

sharks canbe released
after they
are brought
alongside
the boat bycutting thelineof course
Japan ismonitoringand managing
shark
resources

so you're
not worried
about sharks
disappearing?

6

Blue sharks andsalmon sharks
are caught as
bycatch by tuna
fisheries, andthere are lots ofthese.

blue sharkIts clear fromlooking at
the catchquantities thatthe resource
level is stable.

salmon shark

Catch quantities of shark species
25,000The catchquantities in thefamous sharklanding port of
Kesennuma arestable20,00015,00010,000
Unit: tonnes

1998

1999

2000

this may be
because thosesharks which
are released
by cutting thelines are notreported.

2001 ～

but there isslightly lessshark catch than
we would havepredicted

7

If you
comparethe valueof sharks(excludingthe fins) totuna, it isvery low,Whathappens
if theshark
is notthrownaway?

therefore if
large sharks
are caught
and placedin the fish
hold theytake up a lotof space

sharkshave avery strong
ammonia
smell

and in someareas, people
don't likethe taste ofsharkseven more
so now
we wantpeople
to know
about it!!

In Japan
we've been
makingpractical useof sharks fora long, longtime

8

but thisis really
delicious,
isn't itand if the valueof sharks canbe raised

it seems thatthe numberof boats thatthrow away
sharks will
decrease.

why are theseenvironmentalgroups out toprohibit this?

when I
hear that,it really
doesn'tsound sobadthat's right9

Then itwould begood if we
could show
people how
to handle
and process
sharksonboardTheseenvironmentalgroups are justtelling one sideof the story
They are justmaking anargument byfocusing on thethrowing awayof everything
except the finsbut it will not
be only Japanthat is badly
effected bythis, but also
other Asian

countries andelsewhere
where people's
livelihoods
depend on
fishing.

Food customs
are very deeply
embedded inpeople's way oflife and if they
are forced tochange themit will be very
disruptive.

They
are only
focusing on
the shark
finningproblem

10

shark meat isessential ～there arealso people
in developing
countries whodepend on
shark meatas a protein
sourceThey say it isin the name ofconservation, but
actually there isno basis in theory
or scienceand the fishingindustry is goingto end up being
obliterated,which isunbearable.

Well,
problems
in the sea
are ourproblems,eventhough its
not a tuna
problem, wecan't say
there's noconnection.

That'sterrible!
You aretuna
fishermen

but someof those
problems
aren't reallytuna-related
problems

rustlerustle11

Hey, Takuya,
I want toshow yousomething...

JaprMainean

What'sthis?

Eco-LabelThis iswhat wecall theMarine
Eco-LabelPow!!

ne12apriMa

So that we cansustainably use
limited resources inthe future!
So that we canprotect the marine
ecosystem!

anUsing the symbol of the Marine Eco-Label Japanon products produced by Japanese fishermen
to publicize the fact that fishermen, traders andconsumers are all grappling with the issue, managing
carefully and obeying the laws and regulations.

Eco- abelLJFor example,
if the symbol
is attachedto this sharkproductThisis likesayingthat ...

nit meansthat theresources
are beingusedsustainably

It hasgreat
consumer
appeallJ
apaaM

rinee Eco-Lab

akefish cgradeHigh:ts
ienark,Ingredko sh
fin maShorthark
blue sShark finsoup

Fish cakemade from
shark

Waa!

But if a lot of
products start
carrying thislabel

13

We did it!!
it seems thevalue of shark
products isgoing to start
to go up!!

Of course its
not limited toshark products,
it can apply toall seafood

yep…

Those
fishermens'
supporters
Mr.
Kitamuraand Mr.
Miyamoto

That'sgreat
Who toldyou about
thisThese
campaigns are
not just limited
to Japan, they
can spreadthroughout theworld14

In Japan's
Edo Period(1603-1867)
shark fin
was one of
the three
traditional
goods
exported from
NagasakiWe're goingto catch
sharks eventhoughthere arepeople who
oppose it

we're off from
Nagasaki to
China (la, la, la)...

we can't lose
this bit ofour historicalculturehmm,hmmand it seems
there'sscientific proof
that sharks arebeneficial forhuman health!!

yeah

and it seems thatrecently sharks
are the target of
medical research

15and if otherfishermen andconsumers
could do thesame it would
be great

our familyis thinking
like thisMom, lets
get readyto goumm,what?

That's notright, we can't
be doing that!!

Let's go attach
those Marine
Eco-Labels toproducts at thesupermarkets!!

I understandyour feelings
Dad, but let's
not get carried
away!!

16

Characteristicsof large sharks
ウミ ガメ の種の特徴

Whale shark (Rhincodon typus)
Said to attain a full body length of 18 meters. A 10.5 meter
individual shark was found to have produced 300 pups, the most of
any shark species. Found in nearshore waters feeding on plankton,small shrimps and small ﬁshes. They are calm and placid but ifthey were a violent carnivorous shark it would be fair to say theywould be the most ﬁerce shark in the world.

Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
Said to attain a full body length of 6m, there are many rumours andlegends regarding gigantic individuals of this species. As thelargest carnivorous ﬁsh in the world, it attacks and eats pinniped
species like sea lions and seals, as well as species of squid andwhales. It is obviously the species most often involved in attacking
humans, well ahead of the second-most frequenter attacker ofhumans, the tiger shark. There are also many cases of humans
attacking great white sharks, and at present this species along withthe whale shark and the basking shark are listed by the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora.

BASKING SHARK (Cetorhinus maximus)
Reaching a full-body length of over 10 meters, this is the world's
second-largest ﬁsh. With its giant mouth and numerous rows ofsmall-sized teeth, this shark feeds on plankton. No pregnant
individual has ever been found, nor have any individuals less than
1.5 meters ever been caught. From this it is inferred that 1.5
meters is the size at birth and as such the basking shark would be
the world's largest ﬁsh at birth. Because it has a goblin-like snout itis sometimes called the "goblin" shark, or because its snout
resembles an elephant's it is also sometimes called the "elephant"shark, but it is actually a very docile shark.

For the beneﬁt of species and people

GLOBAL GUARDIAN TRUSTThe production of this pamphlet was made possible throughthe support of the Japan Fund for Global Environment 2007.

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