Managing bite risk for divers in the context of shark feeding ecotourism: A case study from French Polynesia (Eastern Pacific)

International audienceShark-based ecotourism has been recently expanding around the world. Provisioning sharks, however, is notwithout risk and accidental bites on humans are regularly reported. Such events may jeopardise the sharkecotourism industry and local economies. Through a case study from French Polynesia, I investigated whetherchanges in feeding practices of lemon sharks between the early 1990s and 2013 are related to recent accidentalbites of divers. Hand-feeding, ‘smelling’ and surface feeding facilitated the development of agonistic behaviourin sharks, which resulted in accidental bites. The level of interaction between sharks and humans appears to bethe most important driver for analysing bite-risk. This paper presents the very first framework for risk-analysisand will allow managers to better manage the risk associated with current practices in shark-feeding around theworld. The paper also provides technical guidelines for the design of adequate legal frameworks that will supportany sustainable shark feeding operation