Managing bite risk for divers in the context of shark feeding ecotourism: A case study from French Polynesia (Eastern Pacific)

Eric E.G. Clua (1, 2)

1 CRIOBE - Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l'environnement
2 LabEX CORAIL - Laboratoire d'Excellence CORAIL

Shark-based ecotourism has been recently expanding around the world. Provisioning sharks, however, is not without risk and accidental bites on humans are regularly reported. Such events may jeopardise the shark ecotourism industry and local economies. Through a case study from French Polynesia, I investigated whether changes in feeding practices of lemon sharks between the early 1990s and 2013 are related to recent accidental bites of divers. Hand-feeding, ‘smelling’ and surface feeding facilitated the development of agonistic behaviour in sharks, which resulted in accidental bites. The level of interaction between sharks and humans appears to be the most important driver for analysing bite-risk. This paper presents the very first framework for risk-analysis and will allow managers to better manage the risk associated with current practices in shark-feeding around the world. The paper also provides technical guidelines for the design of adequate legal frameworks that will support any sustainable shark feeding operation.

Keywords: Ecotourism management; Diving tourists safety; Provisioning and smelling; Agonistic behaviour; Sicklefin lemon shark; Negaprion acutidens

Domains: Environmental Sciences; Environmental and Society; Humanities and Social Sciences; Business administration

Eric E.G. Clua. Managing bite risk for divers in the context of shark feeding ecotourism: A case study from French Polynesia (Eastern Pacific). Tourism Management, 2018, 68, pp.275-283. ⟨hal-01946579⟩