Shark Fishing Banned in the Maldives!
2nd March 2009
3 March 2009, Male’; The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture officially announced yesterday the successful passage of the regulation regarding the banning of shark fisheries. The regulation, which comes into effect from March 1, 2009, imposes a complete ban on fishing for any species of sharks within twelve miles from the atoll rim of all atolls of the Maldives. Formerly, the moratorium was limited to only seven tourism atolls but given the recent expansion of the sector, this has been extended to the entire Maldives.
At a press briefing held last Wednesday, Dr. Ibrahim Didi, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture declared plans to implement a ban on all export of shark products commencing within 1 year from now.
Following several years of research and through the consolidated efforts of the Marine Research Centre (MRC) together with Dr. Charles Anderson, Consultant at the MRC, and projects such as the AEC Project and the Baa Atoll Project, the concern for the survival of the shark species in the Maldives was finally brought to the front. Recent years have seen a precipitous decline in the number of reef sharks sighted by divers and similar trends have been observed on the exports with revenue from shark products contributing only 0.24% to overall marine exports in 2007.The new regulation has been instigated in light of the importance of sharks to the most significant industries in the Maldives: tourism and the pole and line tuna fishery. A study carried out in 1992 revealed that tourists paid a total of US$ 2.3 million for shark watching dives while in the same year the export of shark products earned a revenue of US$ 0.7 million in comparison. The vulnerable nature of shark stocks to exploitation due to their slow growth, late maturity and low fecundity was also acknowledged. The regulation is also in line with the FAO’s call for shark protection at an international level. The challenge now is to find alternative livelihoods for about 200 shark fishermen and middlemen involved in the fishery that would lose their income. MRC is in the process of undertaking such a study to identify alternative livelihoods and compensation mechanisms for the fishers. It is expected that the tourism industry which will reap the benefits from the ban will help compensate those who incur the loss from the decision. It is hoped that the regulation to ban shark fishing within a 12 mile zone from the outer rim of all atolls under Clause 10 of the Fisheries Law (Law no. 5/87) would see a reversal in the declining shark populations of the Maldives.
Unofficial Translation of the Announcement
Number: FA-D/29/2009/20ANNOUNCEMENT
Ban of all shark fishing within 12 mile radius from the outer atoll rim of all Maldivian atolls
Shark species have slow growth, late maturity and low fecundity resulting in wide year-class gaps and low regeneration rates in the population. These factors render sharks vulnerable to over-exploitation. Research has shown that there is a threat to shark populations in the Maldives due to their high exploitation by the fishery thus having negative impacts on the two main sectors of the Maldivian economy, fisheries and tourism. Hence under the Clause 10 of the Regulation number 5/87 (Maldives Fisheries Regulation) the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has declared a ban on shark fishing of any form within 12 miles from the outer atoll rim of all Maldivian Atolls effective from the 01 of March 2009.
3 March 2009
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