Giving back
1% of all profits go towards saving our oceans and all that is connected to them. Thanks to Project Hiu.
Project Hiu
Started by Byron bay Local and conservationist Madison Stewart, Project Hiu aims to create alternative incomes for shark fishermen through tourism, improving their lives and saving the oceans apex predators along the way.
‘Project Hiu’, Hiu being the Indonesian word for Shark, is an initiative to provide alternative incomes to fishermen in one of the largest shark fisheries in Indonesia. The aim of Project Hiu is not to convert or condemn, rather slowly introduce opportunity to a community that has only ever known shark fishing. By hiring shark fishing boats to engage in tourism activities, we offer an alternative income that simultaneously and effectively protects sharks. Project Hiu is founded on the recognition that the very solution to saving sharks, lay with the men raised to kill them.
We also address the need for our presence to benefit the entire community and not just a few fishermen. Giving incentive to a whole village to choose tourism over fishing, we re-invest project capital, that in turn aid’s community development projects such as: waste management initiatives, education programs and boat refurbishing.
Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of shark fins; the shark fin industry is responsible for the death of between 88 million to 100 million sharks every year. This small village and the fishermen we work with represent far more than a simple project, they represent the preservation of connecting oceans, and an opportunity to drive a wedge between the hard working fishermen and the foreign buyers who profit from them.
