Aiming to prevent shark culling, The Dorsal Effect, Lombok, Indonesia

Through the provision of eco-tours to provide an attractive alternative income stream to south-east Lombok fisherman, Singaporean founder Kathy Xu hopes to reduce the level of shark culling in the open oceans south of Lombok, Indonesia.

Her social enterprise, The Dorsal Effect (www.thedorsaleffect.com) provides customers with a tour of the fish/shark market in Tanjung Luar, high quality snorkelling in and around protected coves, stunning views from Pink Beach and its surrounding cliffs and trash collection on a sunken island to reduce plastics in the surrounding waters. 

The shark market provides a stark reminder of the unnecessary level of shark hunting for their fins and flesh, disrupting the natural ecosystem in the oceans. There is no regulation on the number and size of sharks to be culled, and as a result I saw many juvenile sharks yesterday.