Frederic J. Brown AFP Yahoo News 6 Jul 11;
The Bahamas on Tuesday announced a ban on shark fishing, becoming the latest country to protect the ancient sea predator which is considered at risk due to demand for its fins in Chinese cuisine.
The Atlantic Ocean archipelago said it was banning the commercial fishing of sharks in its 243,000 square miles (630,000 square kilometers) of water, along with the sale, import or export of shark products.
"People say, 'Why are you supporting sharks? They just eat people and eat other fish.' But in fact there's a lot more to sharks than that," said Neil McKinney, president of the Bahamas National Trust, which manages the country's resources.
"They desperately need protection if we're not going to drive them to extinction," he told reporters in the capital Nassau, pointing to the "extremely important" role that sharks play in balancing the ecosystem.
The US-based Pew Environment group has campaigned around the world to encourage shark protection. Before The Bahamas, Honduras, Maldives and Palau have also declared sanctuaries for sharks.
Environmentalists say that around 73 million sharks are killed each year, generally by hacking off their fins, which can fetch lucrative prices as they are served in Chinese soups as a delicacy.
The Bahamas counts tourism as a major industry and a recent study found that shark diving was already worth $80 million a year, a figure the government hopes will rise once the ban comes into force.
The Bahamas in 1993 banned long-line fishing, which has largely prevented shark fishing. But no specific law prohibited the commercial killing of sharks and environmentalists pressed for action after a seafood company last year said it would start catching the predator for export.
"The Bahamas remains one of the few location in the world where we have a relatively healthy shark population and a great diversity of species still exists, which is important if we're going to keep that population and if they're going to replenish other areas," McKinney said.
California is considering imposing a ban on shark fin sales, which activists hope would have a major effect due to the state's large Chinese American population.
Shark fishing banned in the Bahamas
BBC News 6 Jul 11;
The Bahamas has banned shark fishing in its waters and prohibited the sale, import and export of shark products.
The new law will effectively turn all 630,000 sq km (243,000 square miles) of the nation's territorial waters into a shark sanctuary.
The ban was approved by Agriculture Minister Larry Cartwright in the capital, Nassau, on Tuesday.
The archipelago joins Honduras, the Maldives and Palau in outlawing shark fishing.
The government also increased shark-fishing fines from $3,000 (£1,900) to $5,000.
Sharks are considered at risk due to demand for their fins in Chinese cuisine - some 73 million of the sea predators are killed each year, environmentalists say.
Needing protection
In 1993 the Bahamas banned long-line fishing, which limited shark fishing and protected 40 species of sharks inhabiting its waters.
But shark fishing was not banned outright, and when a local seafood company announced last year that it planned to export shark meat and fins to Hong Kong, activists called for a new law to be introduced.
Environmentalists welcomed the ban. Neil McKinney, president of the Bahamas National Trust, which manages the country's resources, said sharks played an extremely important role in balancing the ecosystem.
"They desperately need protection if we're not going to drive them to extinction," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
Tourism is a major industry in the Bahamas, and shark-diving earns it $80m a year in revenue, according to a recent survey.
The country's main island, New Providence, is home to Jaws Beach, where one of the Jaws films was shot. Last year, the remains of a boatman who had disappeared off the beach were found in the stomach of a tiger shark caught by an investment banker.
The US-based Pew Environment Group said each reef shark brought some $250,000 to the archipelago's economy.
Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette said he did not think the ban would affect relations with China, which has increased trade with the Bahamas in recent years.
"This is in keeping with the government's commitment to pursue conservation policies and strategies in order to safeguard the marine and terrestrial environment," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.
