THATTA: A 20-foot-long whale shark, classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, was accidentally trapped in a gill net set up by local fishermen in offshore waters off Khobar Creek and brought to shore for sale.
The fishermen told journalists that they tried to disentangle the giant fish but failed and then brought it to their village, Jhangi Sar, by tying it to the boat’s side. Since it was a holiday that day, they could not sell it in market and the fish was still in their possession, they said.
The whale shark is listed as endangered on the IUCN’s Red List. It is included in Appendix-II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and is proposed to be included in Appendix-I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. It is also covered under other international instruments including the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, of which Pakistan is a member.