Vlad Sokhin

Eliuda Toxok, a shark caller from Messi village, paddles his outrigger canoe in Bismarck Sea while trying to catch a shark. Shark calling is the ancient tradition among the fishermen of New Ireland. The shark caller makes a noise, by hitting water with a tool made of coconut shells called a 'larding'. This mimics the sound of a school of fish thrashing on the surface of the water, thereby 'calling' nearby sharks. When a shark comes close, the fisherman ensnares it using a 'ka'saman', a propeller-shaped float with a noose of twisted vine looped through it. In recent years catches are depleted, local clan chief from Messi village Eanock Tovalaun says: 'A few years back our people…when they go out they can catch shark twice a week, three times a week, depending of how many people are going down. Now they are just telling us that they can only get just one shark every two weeks or one shark after a month.'