Socio-economic aspects of the Sodwana Bay SCUBA diving industry, with a specific focus on sharks

Abstract

Understanding socio-economic aspects of the diving industry at Sodwana Bay, including data on participant motivation and expenditure, is crucial for the effective management of the St Lucia and Maputaland marine protected areas, South Africa. Between July 2011 and July 2012 a total of 59 553 dives was conducted by 15 780 divers (95% CI = 15 295–16 277). Data were collected by means of the administration of a semi-structured survey questionnaire to 750 dive participants. Participant responses indicated that the direct value of diving to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park was R75 484 784 (95% CI = R73 071 709–R78 682 514). A total of 1 000 Monte Carlo simulations was used to estimate confidence intervals. The majority of dives at Sodwana were on coral-covered sandstone reefs (95.2%), with shark diving accounting for only 4.8% of dives. Although sharks were not the primary attraction for divers to visit Sodwana, 84.2% of respondents stated that they were interested in shark diving and that more opportunities to dive with sharks would encourage them to revisit Sodwana more often. Attaching an economic value to sharks as a dive attraction to Sodwana and highlighting their potential for the growth of the dive industry may act as leverage for their protection against fishing within iSimangaliso.