Palau Creates Shark Sanctuary

October 8, 2009 on 6:33 pm | In Adventure Travel, Australia, Beachbooker, Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Guam, Marianas, Marshall Islands, Melanesia, Micronesia, New Caledonia, New South Wales, New Zealand, Northern, Outdoors, Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea, Queensland, Sailing, Samoa, Scuba Diving, Solomon Islands, South Australia, Sydney, Tahiti, Tasmania, Tonga, Vanuatu, Victoria, Western | Comments Off

The Pacific nation of Palau has created the world’s first officially-recognized shark sanctuary, a biological sanctuary to protect great hammerheads, leopard sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks and more than 130 other species fighting extinction in the Pacific Ocean.

Johnson Toribiong, president of the island republic, said, “Palau will become the world’s first national shark sanctuary, ending all commercial shark fishing in our waters and giving a sanctuary for sharks to live and reproduce unmolested in our 237,000 square miles of ocean.” Toribiong’s announcement on the commercial shark-fishing ban came on Sept. 25 at the United Nations General Assembly.

“The strength and beauty of sharks are a natural barometer for the health of our oceans,” he said.

During his address, Toribiong called for a global ban on shark-finning and rallied for other nations to join the cause. Through his actions, along with those of the Palau Shark Sanctuary, Toribiong has put Palau on the map in terms of global efforts to protect sharks.

Shark populations are in danger of demise because of limited protective measures, to date. Shark fishing has grown rapidly since the mid-1980s, because of the rising demand for shark fin soup, a highly coveted expression of wealth.

Sharks, in general, have a long life span and low fertility rates, which makes them vulnerable to extinction. As a result,

Palau formally established a protective zone to help preserve the predatory fish by protecting its 135 Western Pacific species of sharks and rays, considered endangered or vulnerable.

For more information, visit www.sharksanctuary.com  or www.visit-palau.com

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