A new shark sanctuary for the Pacific
The Nitijela, the Parliament of the Marshall Islands have unanimously passed legislation that will provide a vast sanctuary to sharks in the Pacific. Because the archipelago nation is spread across a large area it’s territorial waters covers a vast area. Now sharks that venture into it’s 768,547 square miles are protected from being fished.
The area covered by the new protection is equivalent to 8 times the land area of the UK.
A third of shark species are endangered.
The Nitijela have been working with the Pew Environmental Group in order to help conserve sharks, a third of whose species are currently on the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) Red List.
The new legislation will ban commercial fishing of sharks, any trade in shark products and require any shark that is accidentally caught to be returned back to the sea alive. The Marshallese government have also banned certain types of fishing gear in order to reduce accidental by-catch. People who disregard the new legislation will be subject to a fine of upto £200,000.
New laws on sharks replaces moratorium.
The new legislation replaces a moratorium on shark fin trade and export that was put in place earlier in the year after the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority received reports of a booming and uncontrolled export market.
The Marshall Islands is one of a number of US dependant territories that have introduced legislation in recent months to control an unsustainable demand for shark fins. The Pew Environmental Group have also targeted archipelago nations as these island nations can have vast areas of ocean under their control.
70 million sharks killed each year for soup.
It’s estimated that over 70 million sharks are killed each year for their fins to meet the demands of shark fin soup in Asian countries. Reports are that the locals who can be involved in the shark fishing are paid as little as $2 a pound for shark fins while those very same fins will fetch over $700 a pound in the markets at China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Apart from their conservation value, live sharks are much more important to the Marshallese economy than dead ones. Reef sharks are attractions for divers and help to boost tourism in the county.
Wider benefits of shark protection.
Reef sharks are also important for the ecology of the islands and protection of fish stocks. Without the reef sharks predating on larger fish there is a risk that the large fish will feed on the smaller fish which are an important part of locals diets. If the small fish take becomes unsustainable because of increases in large fish numbers then the loss of small fish could see the loss of many of the coral reefs as algae becomes more widespread and out-competes the native coral.
The loss of the coral would greatly impact the local tourism which is heavily dependant on marine activities such as scuba diving. Coral reefs also provide storm and wave protection of beaches and low lying land.
The continued loss of reef sharks could have far ranging consequences.
External sites:
Pew Environmental Group.
Pew testimony to the Marshall Islands Senate Committee (pdf).
Asia Pacific News.
BBC.
