Maldives ban shark hunting

Great news from the Maldives, but sad that it had to come to this!

Letter on shark hunting ban
4 March 2009, Minivan News

We appreciate it very much that finally the sharks of the Maldives will be protected. According to our diving experience, it is already five minutes to 12 for the grey reef sharks.

During November 2007 we did not see grey sharks anymore in the Ari atoll and both Male' Atolls. We complained to many people about their near-extinction.

Grey sharks are particularly important as they take care of dead matter in the sea, which is very important for the avoidance of disease.

Since we did not see a reaction to protect sharks, we finally decided to go somewhere else for diving. I have been diving since 1977, many times in the Maldives and I became very sorry to see your beautiful underwater world destroyed for short-term profit.

Regards,
Manfred Rhode
Chairman of the Diving Club "Unterwasserclub
Langen e. V."

Maldives ban shark hunting
Published:Mar 05, 2009, The Times

COLOMBO — The Maldives banned reef shark hunting in a bid to protect the atoll nation’s fragile ecology and attract more divers.

The new law would stop shark hunting in shallow waters around the country’s 1,192 coral islands, the government said.

"The ban will restore the Maldives’ shark populations and, in doing so, help maintain our pristine marine environment," President Mohamed Nasheed said.

"The shark hunting ban will also help the tourism industry. More divers and snorkelers will now visit the Maldives to observe these beautiful sea creatures."

There is no domestic market in the Maldives for shark meat, which is mainly exported to East Asian nations.

Survey: Maldives’ shark population in danger of becoming extinct
DATE: 2009-03-03, Haveeru

Research conducted by experts show that the various shark species in Maldives were in danger of becoming extinct due to overfishing by shark hunters, the Fisheries Ministry has said.

An official from the Ministry said that sharks reproduced at a very slow rate and that also in very small litter sizes, which was why the small shark population was unable to cope with large scale fishing. The official further said that shark hunting was directly affecting two of the main industries of Maldives: fishing and tourism.