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Gujarat: App to help fishermen document their mercy for whale shark

It Will help pinpoint GPS location where the mammal was set free

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Children display their painting of a Whale Shark at a conference held in Gandhinagar
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Spiritual leader Morari Bapu called it 'Vahali' (an endearment for the girl child) while urging the fishermen to protect the whale sharks caught in their net. The Gujarat forest department is now all set to launch an app name Vaali Whatcher in an effort to streamline the compensation paid to fishermen who have to cut off their nets to release a whale shark accidentally caught by them.

The app that is at present only available in English but will soon be made available in Gujarat.

Sajan John, who heads the Marine Conservation Project of the Wildlife Trust of India said that the app will remove the possibility of photos being duplicated.

"At present, the fishermen are given cameras (which are not digital) which they take with them to the seas. Every time a whale is caught and they have to cut the net to release it they take a photograph. This is then brought to the forest department officials who also carry out their own verification before the compensation is provided," said John.

He said with the app, the fishermen can register themselves and every time they set free a whale shark, they can take a picture with the app. What is interesting is that the pic will be directly saved in the server and not on the camera," said John. He said the picture will also provide the GPS location thus leaving no doubts about where the whale shark had been accidentally caught.

It should be noted that the forest department pays compensation of up to Rs 25,000 to fishermen who have to cut open their nets to free the whale sharks accidentally caught in them. Earlier every time the mammal was caught the department used to go to verify it or the mammal had to be dragged close to the shore as proof. Later cameras were given to fishermen but questions of whether the same photographs taken from different angles were being used to claim compensation came about.

Veljibhai Masani of the fishermen's association said that while the app was welcome the department needs to consider increasing the compensation. At present, though the maximum amount to be paid as compensation is Rs 25,000 the truth is that fishermen hardly ever get it. "The usual compensation is somewhere around Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000. What the department fails to consider is that when a fisherman cuts open his nets to let the whale shark go, he also suffers loss for the rest of the catch, the cost of him travelling mid sea and the time and catch that gets wasted in the process," said Masani.

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