Nature

I was one of the best shark fishermen in East Lombok.

I could catch up to 150 sharks in a single trip.

I could earn around $1,200 USD a month.

But there were many risks.

We would get dragged by sharks on our fishing line.

When I met Pippy, my world began to expand.

I didn't go to Lombok thinking that I would leave with a shark fisherman willing to work in tourism.

When we actually befriend these people killing the thing that you love, it allows magic like Project Hiu to happen.

With this project, perhaps the sharks can reproduce and thrive as they did before.

I'm from Maringkik Island, East Lombok.

When I was 11, my late father took me shark fishing.

At first, we were very scared.

The sharks were bigger than our boat.

But my father said, we do this for our family, son.

Because it's our livelihood.

It will better our lives.

The sea is very important to us fishermen.

Our income comes from the sea.

There is too much competition around this island.

We had to go farther away to fish than we did before.

During storms, we pushed through the waves as our boat fills up with water.

There was always fear.

I was bringing the catch to the market.

I'm 17 years old, and started diving when I was 11.

I should not have seen shark populations disappear.

It was the first time we saw a Caucasian.

Who are these people?

I told Pip, "Pip, you need to stay away from my sharks.

Don't cover them, don't take photos, and don't make videos of my sharks."

I thought Pip was only going to do the boat tour just that one time.

Madison Stewart asked me, "Which would you prefer, Odie?

Do you want to continue being a fisherman or switch to tourism?"

Right now, we see shark populations shrinking.

It will not be possible for all of us to be fishermen in the future.

The danger of being a fisherman is something I don't want for our future generations.

Maybe tourism would be a better option.

We take this big hook and come down (on the shark with it.)

And one or two of the crew members hit the head until it dies.

Okay this is my long line.

There's even blood on there.

Shark fishing was the only way to earn a significant income.

So we can feed the family.

So when the men are not doing tourism, they will go back to fishing sharks.

How do you pull them back up?

Do you have a machine?

No, if we are fishing for sharks we always do this for the long line.

And look at this hand, it's very hard.

Now, Odie is not fishing sharks, my hand is so clear.

Okay!

Together we read it louder, One, two, three, four, five, six... Initially we bought drinking water from Lombok, then we transported it by boat.

So Project Hiu built the tank to collect the rainwater, and process it into clean water.

I do not want to see our children become fishermen.

What we want is education; the number one priority is education.

This project also provides scholarships for students.

We are native Lombok people, and we must advance our own island.

This week we tagged two tiger sharks.

This is the first in Indonesia, and it was so great.

If we don't have great ideas like this, then sharks would face extinction.

That way, in the future... we'll have even more sharks in our oceans.