Shark conservation campaign in Maldives

Sharks, the great predators of the sea, are under great threat of extinction. Each year, more than 70 million sharks are being killed on global scale, and if this situation doesn't change the marine food web could soon be irreparably damaged because sharks are on top of the marine food web.

The shark conservation will need to be improve significantly in years to come, and world definitely needs more protected areas where sharks can roam freely without interference from humans.

The Soneva Group recently announced that its Maldives resort, Soneva Fushi, will serve as regional headquarters for the largest worldwide shark conversation campaign, FINished with Fins. FINished with Fins can boast the support of over 100 of Hong Kong’s taste makers and opinion leaders, 150 celebrities from Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and China, and has now added Sonu and Eva Shivdasani, founders of The Soneva Group, to its list of campaigners.

Jonn Lu, Regional Director, Asia Pacific for Shark Savers, who was instrumental in founding the FINished with Fins movement, flew to the Maldives to sign the resort up to the cause. Sonu and Eva have pledged their support to help lobby against illegal shark fishing in their local area as well as on a global stage to help recruit other corporations to support shark conservation, notably other resorts in the Maldives and travel industry leaders.

Back in 2000, their waters were teeming with sharks, however as the years have gone by the shark population has depleted significantly. This led to the Maldivian government commendably introducing a ban on shark fishing in all its waters in 2010. The ban was a great step forward for shark conservation however it only prevented fishermen from hunting sharks up to 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) off the atoll coasts. This has led to poachers shark fishing and trading outside of the perimeter. Soneva Fushi would like to see the perimeter extended further to make it a lot more difficult for shark fishing and trading to take place and try and put a stop to it once and for all.

The resort is aware of sharks’ role in the ocean’s food chains, and that their depletion is due to the unsustainable demand for shark fin soup in A.

How to save sharks from going extinct?

Sharks, the world most famous marine predators, are almost everywhere in the world in danger of going extinct. In many places of the world shark's meat is one of the top delicacies and this has led to significant decline in their population on global scale. According to the current estimates each year between 50 to 73 million sharks are killed by people in commercial and recreational fishing, and this number will likely continue in years to come if world fails to do anything about it.

What is the best solution to save sharks from going extinct? Many environmentalists are very fond of the shark sanctuary idea, and this is the idea that became quite popular since the time Palau's president Toribiong announced that his country will ban all commercial shark fishing in its waters, and provide 600,000 sq km (230,000 sq miles) of ocean to be free of shark fishing, at least till shark population recovers in numbers.

The latest example is Indonesia. Indonesia has recently declared large shark sanctuary area which will cover 46,000 square kilometres (17,760 square miles) of waters around the Raja Ampat islands in eastern Indonesia. This is one of the world's richest marine biodiversity areas, and hopefully shark population will not be the only species to prosper, as this is also the home of other famous endangered animals such as sea turtles and manta rays.

Sharks are on top of the marine food chain, and their extinction would cause irreparable damage to many marine ecosystems. Some shark species, for instance angel sharks and deep-water gulper shark, are already listed as critically endangered, and many more will follow unless we see a decent number of new shark sanctuaries around the globe.

The importance of this shark sanctuary in Indonesia is great because close to 80% of shark species in this area are threatened with extinction, mostly from overfishing. Shark fin soup is traditional dish in many Asian countries, and its consumption has risen dramatically with the middle class becoming more affluent, and with it shark meat is becoming even more sought after "merchandise".

People that enjoy in shark meat care very little about the fact that sharks are heading for extinction. Perhaps they'll care more once there won't be sharks left to satisfy their gourmand desires.

Shark population is decreasing steadily on global scale, and world has to do something about it. One of the best available solutions to save sharks from going extinct is to create more shark sanctuaries. The problem is that many countries will only consider this idea once their domestic shark population starts experiencing huge decline, instead of doing the necessary measures to preserve their local shark population at optimum level.

Shark protection - Palau to lead witht the right example

If sharks were about to go extinct this would create irreparable damage to ocean ecosystems because sharks as the main predators play extremely important role in ocean food chain. Shark hunting  is sadly still not stopping, and what world really needs to save many shark species from going extinct is to create protection areas that would ban all commercial shark fishing.

This is exactly what tiny Pacific state Palau plans to do. Palau's president Toribiong said how his country plans to create the world's first "shark sanctuary", banning all commercial shark fishing in its waters. This area will protect about 600,000 sq km (230,000 sq miles) of ocean giving many shark species chance to recover population.

Globally, sharks are being massively slaughtered, some estimates say that around 100 million sharks are killed each year, and if this trend continues many shark species will be brought to the brink of extinction. Current protection efforts are definitely not enough, and unless we see more examples like this one from Palau we will very soon witness big problems with marine ecosystems.

Palau is really the first nation that recognized how important sharks are to healthy marine environments, and protecting such large area is bold first step that many other countries should follow if we are to protect these majestic creatures. So far the best examples of shark protection were implementation of catch limits and restrictions on shark fining which is definitely not enough to show shark killing as current numbers show.

With this "shark sanctuary" Palau will become the No.1 country in the world in shark conservation efforts. Currently 21% of shark species are listed as "threatened with extinction" while 18% are "near threatened". These numbers reflect the seriousness of situation, and it is of vital importance to find the possible solutions that could ensure more efficient conservation efforts. Protection areas definitely look to be one of the best available options to save sharks. However many countries will have to follow Palau's example if we are to see some success.

Sharks in Atlantic threatened with extinction

Latest report shows that more than quarter of sharks in north-east Atlantic are threatened with extinction, mostly because overfishing. Some shark species (rock salmon and porbeagle) highly prized for their meat, are even listed as critically endangered because of excessive overfishing. Among other critically endangered shark species are also angel sharks, deep-water gulper shark, and common skates, and if we want to preserve remaining number of these species we need serious fishing restrictions that would put an end to overfishing.

Porbeagle - One of the shark species highly prized for their meat

Overfishing is serious threat to sharks survival in Atlantic, especially since sharks have tendency to grow slowly, it takes enough them for them to mature, and they produce few young. Different marine conservation organizations have already asked quick action and have urged fisheries ministers to impose tighter restrictions by limiting fishing quotas, at least until shark population starts showing signs of recovery. Current fishing quotas allow more than 800 tonnes of shark meat to be taken next year.

This should be done as quickly as possible or otherwise some shark species could be lost forever. Loss of only one shark species could cause severe changes in many marine ecosystems, and loss of several shark species could have fatal consequences on entire biodiversity in Atlantic since sharks are on top of the marine food chain. We still have enough time to save sharks but we do need to act right away.

Endangered animals - Sharks

Sharks are mostly known as vicious and dangerous animals, especially since the legendary movie Jaws which really made of them ferocious predators but the truth is that sharks in fact rarely attack people unless provoked and only small number of them is actually dangerous for humans. There are about 400 sharks species and only three have been involved in a certain number of unprovoked and fatal attacks on humans: the great white, tiger shark and bull shark.

Sharks usually live for 20-30 years but some species (whale sharks) can even pass the 100 mark. Sharks' biggest weapons are their teeth that are constantly replaced throughout shark's life (some sharks can lose 30,000 teeth in a lifetime). Their most important sense is their smell and some species are able to detect as little as one part per million of blood in seawater which gives little chance to their prey. But smell is not all that sharks have, sharks also have excellent sense of hearing and can hear their prey miles away.

Sharks aren't just impulsive cold blooded killers as many people believe, on the contrary, many species possess powerful problem-solving skills, social complexity and curiosity as they sometime work together in hunting their prey. They're also very fast swimmers so their prey is unlikely to escape them if nearby.

Every year, an estimate states that 26 to 73 million sharks are killed by people in commercial and recreational fishing. Shark's skin is used for many purposes and they are also common seafood on many tables around the world (especially in the form of shark fin soup).

Many of these sea predators end up as shark fin soup

According to "International Action Plan for Sharks" powered by CITES more than 100 out of 400 shark species are being commercially exploited of which many are so overexploited that their long-term survival isn't certainty even with appropriate action and there's also serious lacking in monitoring the international shark trade.

Since sharks are on top on the food chain it's absolutely vital to preserve them from extinction because their extinction would mean extremely negative impact on sea ecosystems resulting in many undesirable consequences.

There are certain positive moves but it will take lot more than now and then action to save these great predators from threatening extinction and there's lot of work left in this segment. Not just in research but in the legislation too.

There's a certain irony in the fact that the biggest sea predator has become prey. on the edge of the extinction, and all because of (who else, but) humans.