When Hunters Become Protectors: Colombian Fishermen Change Their Relationship With Sharks
In the northern tip of Colombia, a story unfolds that demonstrates that shark conservation does not always have to start with a ban. Sometimes it starts with a person who has hunted them their whole life.
In the very north of South America, in the Colombian region of La Guajira, the desert meets the Caribbean Sea. This is where Punta Gallinas lies, a remote territory inhabited by the Wayuu community, whose lives have been inextricably linked to the ocean for generations. Here, the sea is not just the landscape around their homes. It is a source of food, work, and income, and fishing is part of a tradition passed down from parents to children. In some families, shark meat is still an important source of protein. And that is why the story that has been unfolding here in recent years is so important. Some fishermen, who used to actively hunt sharks, are now helping with their research and conservation.
One of them is forty-six-year-old Wilfrido Arends, known locally as Caracas. He started going to sea at the age of nine. From his grandparents, he learned how to fish, how to work with nets, and how to hunt sharks. It was nothing unusual back then. Shark hunting was part of the local way of life, and trading their meat and fins provided some families with money for fuel, nets, hooks, and other necessities to continue fishing. Arends later understood that if this pressure continued unabated, the local shark population could end up like sea turtles, which, according to locals, were gradually disappearing from the area due to overconsumption. “What happened to the turtles, we don't want to happen to the sharks,” he explains.
Colombia, however, already adopted a law in 2021 prohibiting the targeted hunting of sharks and rays. In 2024, the rules were amended to allow accidental catch of some species under certain conditions. But a ban alone cannot solve the problem in communities where shark meat is part of the diet and where people live in one of the poorest and most food-insecure regions of the country. For some families, therefore, it is not simply a matter of saying: stop hunting sharks. The real question is: what will we live on and how will we feed our children?
This is where Proyecto Puyuii, a Colombian initiative focused on shark conservation, comes into the story. Its members work directly with Wayuu fishermen, seeking to combine the traditional knowledge of local people with modern marine research. The waters around La Guajira are still surprisingly under-researched. Scientists assume that there is a high diversity of sharks and rays here, but there is still not enough data to create truly effective conservation measures. Local fishermen have therefore started helping with documenting catches, measuring sharks, and taking fin samples. Each recorded individual can contribute to a better understanding of what species live here, how many there are, and what fishing pressure they face.
The research reveals a remarkable diversity. In the wider Colombian Caribbean, 90 species of sharks and rays have been recorded in the available data so far, with scientists themselves pointing out that this list is not exhaustive. Directly around Punta Gallinas, local fishermen report, for example, tiger sharks, silky sharks, blacknose sharks, and critically endangered scalloped hammerheads. Better knowledge of local populations could help in the future to set sustainable fishing rules, or to create protected areas.
However, the change is not only happening in laboratories and research records. The way some fishermen work is also changing. Arends, for example, has abandoned targeted shark hunting using longlines and instead uses nets. Fishermen in Punta Gallinas have also started using nets with larger mesh sizes, which are less likely to catch young sharks. Furthermore, they place their nets further away from the open sea, where sharks are more common. If a shark is caught accidentally and is still alive, they try to release it. According to Arends, approximately 17 of the estimated 20 boats in Punta Gallinas have already stopped targeted shark hunting.
At first glance, the number 17 out of 20 might just seem like a statistic. In reality, however, it represents a huge change in a community where shark hunting has been part of tradition for generations. Arends himself describes this change as a transformation "from hunter to protector." And this is perhaps the greatest strength of the entire project. Local people are not just those whom scientists tell what to do. They themselves participate in observations, data collection, and finding ways for humans and sharks to share the same space.
However, the situation is more complex in nearby Bahía Hondita. The local fishing community is larger, and many people are still economically dependent on shark fishing. According to local fishermen, some still use hooks and longlines because they have no other way to make a living. Moreover, the problem is not only about fishing. La Guajira also suffers from water scarcity and food insecurity. For example, after a failed rainy season in 2025, one local family lost most of its goat herd, which was an important source of food and income. In addition, according to the article, approximately one in three children in the region suffers from chronic malnutrition.
That's why some fishermen say that if they are to truly stop shark fishing, they need an alternative. Not just a promise of protection, but a real opportunity to continue supporting their families. And one way could be ecotourism. The idea is simple: if a live shark can be more economically valuable to the community than a dead one, the motivation of people who work at sea can also change. Locals can take tourists on boats, work as guides, run accommodations or other services. Some have already made this change. Alexi López, who was among the most active shark hunters in Punta Gallinas, now earns primarily by transporting tourists by car and boat, and says he earns more than he did previously from fishing.
This is precisely the kind of change that can be much more significant for nature conservation than a ban alone. For conservation to be long-term, it must also make sense to the people who live directly in the ecosystem. It is not enough to say that sharks must remain in the ocean. It is necessary to create conditions in which it is more advantageous for local people to have a shark alive than dead. As project co-founder Felipe González says, the question is how to make a shark something that is more valuable alive than dead to a fisherman.
And then came a moment that showed this new way of thinking was truly taking root. In May 2026, fishermen in Bahía Hondita caught a large female tiger shark. When they discovered she was pregnant, they found pups inside her body. In the past, such a catch would likely have meant the end for them too. This time, however, Juan Manuel Uriana, the thirty-three-year-old representative of the local fishermen's association, decided otherwise. Instead of abandoning the pups to their fate, they used safe release techniques that the fishermen had learned from Proyecto Puyuii. In the end, they managed to return 43 live tiger shark pups to the sea.
The protection of young sharks can be extremely important for the future of populations. If a young individual is caught before it has a chance to reproduce, the population loses not only one shark but also its future contribution to the next generation. The ability to return 43 pups to the ocean is therefore not just a symbolic gesture. It is a concrete example of how new knowledge can change the outcome of a situation that would previously have ended completely differently. Uriana also describes that they started releasing the pups with children. This way, from a very young age, children see that a shark does not just have to be something to catch and kill, but also an animal that can be given a second chance.
The story of Punta Gallinas is not one where the problem was solved overnight. Tradition does not change with one law or one project. Shark meat is still an important part of the diet in some communities, and some fishermen remain dependent on it. Therefore, conservation must go hand in hand with economic opportunities and respect for local culture. That is why it is so important that Proyecto Puyuii does not simply try to erase local tradition, but seeks ways to reduce pressure on shark populations, protect young individuals, improve knowledge of local species, and simultaneously create new sources of income.
Perhaps the biggest change, then, is not happening in nets or in laws, but in the human perception of sharks. An animal that for generations was seen as prey can suddenly be seen as part of the sea, on which the future of the entire community depends. A person who learned to hunt sharks can also learn how to release them safely. A fisherman who previously profited from a dead shark can find a way to profit from a living ocean. And a child who watches their father at sea today may one day become a biologist or conservationist instead of a hunter. Arends' granddaughter and one of his sons, according to Mongabay, want to study marine biology, and Arends himself dreams that a shark research center will one day be established in Punta Gallinas.
That’s why this story is much more than just another report on endangered shark conservation. It shows that true nature conservation sometimes begins where we might not expect it – with people who were once part of the problem themselves. Not because they were indifferent to nature, but because they needed to survive. When their conditions change and they are given the opportunity to seek a different path, their relationship with the ocean can also change.
Aboard a small fishing boat, Wilfrido Arends continues to watch the horizon. His son, a twenty-two-year-old man nicknamed Caraquitas after his father, pulls a fishing net from the water. The same sea that fed previous generations, according to Arends, must now also feed those to come. “Everything we tried to do is to leave something for our children,” he says. And perhaps in this sentence lies the whole message of the story from La Guajira. It’s not just about how many sharks we save today. It's about what we leave behind in the ocean.
Author: Miri Svobodová
Source: Euan Wallace, Mongabay, August 20, 2026