Natasha Marosi
Who I am
I was born in New York City, far from the turquoise waters of the South Pacific. As a child I had the Atlantic Ocean to play in and a healthy fear of sharks; my sister and I solemnly swore to never wade in water where we could not see our own toes. As an adult I was determined to confront my fears, which resulted in an even healthier obsession to dive with sharks in every ocean around the globe. Although I was a defence attorney at the time, I knew then I would someday use my voice to advocate for sharks and their ocean habitats. Volunteering with a shark conservation project in Fiji became the catalyst for my life change and I have been here now for almost eight years. Stepping into my role as conservation director for Beqa Adventure Divers (BAD) brought with it not only a mentor, but also an opportunity to continue working alongside the Ministry of Fisheries, which had partnered with BAD for more than 20 years. As conservation director, I have been able to run several conservation and research projects on sharks and rays, which then led to my PhD studying bull shark behaviour. In 2024 I launched the charitable trust ‘Viti Leucas Society’, or the ‘Fiji Shark Lab’, a biological field station dedicated to the research and conservation of elasmobranchs. My motivation comes from the individual sharks that I study. I feel privileged to get to know them personally and document their life histories. I also feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility as I follow individuals through each mating season and subsequent pregnancy, knowing full well that most of their offspring will never survive the first few years of life. It is my responsibility to take action on their behalf.
Where I work
I am based at the Fiji Shark Lab, which is located in Pacific Harbour on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji. The Lab is located at BAD’s dive base, which is quite convenient and facilitates every facet of work both topside and beneath the waves. BAD’s flagship site is the Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji’s first national marine park, which was created in partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries and the village of Galoa, the traditional owners. As well as being the study site for my PhD, the Shark Reef Marine Reserve is home to eight visiting and resident shark species, including the largest aggregation of bull sharks in the world. When I’m not diving and collecting data in the reserve, I am generally working at the Lab, holding workshops there and liaising closely with some of the local schools to bring shark conservation workshops to the students. Most of my projects are run in the riverine systems and coastal areas of Viti Levu and are on threatened elasmobranch species. Fiji has a small-scale artisanal elasmobranch fishery with no real concept of the status of shark and ray populations, as monitoring and management are largely absent. Elasmobranchs are also caught as bycatch in illegal gill nets deployed in critical habitats where the targets are teleost fish. Most of these critical habitats have already received ISRA designation. Recent studies have shown that sharks and rays are now being sought and utilised as alternative sources of protein due to the steady depletion of fish stocks. Elasmobranchs exhibit conservative life-history characteristics, and populations are in jeopardy. We are now at a critical point for implementing protection in the essential habitats for young elasmobranchs, which is why we are joining forces with the Ministry of Fisheries to conduct this project.
What I do
I wear many hats, but thankfully everything is bound by one common underlying thread: research into and conservation of shark and ray populations in Fiji. Some days you can find me in the ocean collecting observational data; other days I am collecting tissue samples from bull sharks. I spend a lot of time in front of the laptop editing my draft manuscripts for publication as part of my PhD thesis, running statistical analysis or labouring over grant proposals for future projects. I hold monthly workshops for young students and volunteers to learn about shark biology and behaviour, and to raise awareness about current conservation issues. Other conservation and research projects I run include Operation Shark Pups, which safeguards young sharks in our riverine and estuarine systems by enforcing the ban on illegal gill netting with active patrols. Operation Shark Pups has been running for three years now in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries Inshore Division, but we are working with the Fiji Navy as well to expand into three other areas in Viti Levu: the Sigatoka River, Natadola Bay and Ba River. For this ‘Muddy Waters’ project, we will resample previously identified estuarine areas for juvenile elasmobranchs and identify critical habitats for young bull sharks further upriver in the Ba. Our partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries Research Division means we will have a research assistant on our field team. The ministry will spearhead village consultations and upper echelon government meetings, while I will handle the drafting of the legislation (owing to my legal background). This project is only the beginning, as our aim is to enact legislative protection in every riverine and estuarine system in Fiji to safeguard threatened populations of young elasmobranchs nationwide.