Isla Mujeres, an island northeast of Cancun is home to one of the biggest shark fishing community in the area. Every year an average of 18,000 sharks of 24 species are captured for the fishing industry. This practice has existed for more than 60 years and some of the people involved have been devoted to this activity for over 3 generations.
At the same time, in many places in the region, ecotourist diving activities are starting to grow, bringing along the message of conservation for many species including sharks. These activities have caught the eye of the fishermen who are now interested in changing their old ways and using their knowledge to achieve a sustainable living in harmony with the sharks.
Trading professions can be a challenging enterprise, especially for people that live day to day and with income directly from shark fishing. Therefore, Saving Our Sharks has created a strategy designed to open the opportunity for the fisherman to start their own conservation and ecotourism businesses and giving thousands of sharks the opportunity to stay alive.