The Republic of the Congo is a hotspot for sharks and rays. However, scientists didn’t know how many of these species congregate along the coast until they asked the artisanal fishermen who work there. In a recent study published in Conservation Science and Practice, researchers from the University of Exeter in the U.K. worked alongside […]
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As the midday heat begins to subside in the coastal city of Pointe-Noire in Republic of the Congo, eight sinewy fishermen shunt a rickety pirogue toward the gray Atlantic beneath a brooding sky. As they dig their feet into the sand, a tattered Congolese flag flutters above the bow in the breeze. It’s good weather for shark fishing. “We are like soldiers who have taken the oath,” says Alain Pangou, the crew’s 54-year-old captain, a short man with angular features and a penchant for poetic turns of phrase. “What choice do we have but to go and fight?”