Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) condemns the slaughter of sharks at Pulau Mabul in Sabah. The authorities must take this issue seriously. Sharks are losing the battle for survival. How long can they withstand man’s onslaught?
As long as there is no protection for sharks, the demand for their body parts will continue, causing their numbers to plummet.
The killing of sharks calls for an investigation and for perpetrators to be prosecuted.
It is the sharks that are in need of greater protection from humans and the ramifications of losing sharks — key predator in the food chain — are huge. Other sea life will suffer and jellyfish will expand.
The sight of a shark fin cutting through the surface of the ocean evokes either fear or awe, but for others, that fin evokes something entirely different — greed.
Malaysia ranks 15 among the world’s top 20 shark-catching nations.
The value and strong demand for shark fins make sharks attractive.
A survey by two local groups in Sabah in 2011 found that sharks were widely sold in markets, minus their fins.
A media picture last year of shark fins drying in the sun outside a shop in Kota Kinabalu proved that sharks are hunted for their fins.
Sabah has 118 species of sharks, of which 19 can be seen in Sabah’s fish markets.
In view of the drastic increase in the number of sharks caught in fishing nets over the past few years since 2011 compared with the previous five years, the Federation of Sabah Fisheries and Fishing Trawler Association members back plans for a ban.
However, they explained that sharks caught in nets were unavoidable considering the use of trawler fishing nets.
A study conducted by Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network, revealed that Malaysia caught 231,212 tonnes of sharks from 2002 to 2011, accounting for 2.9 per cent of the global reported shark catch.
Sharks are more vulnerable than other species due to overfishing and overharvesting.
They should be afforded as much protection as that given to orang utan and other endangered land mammals. They need enforcement and shark sanctuaries, where small areas are 100 per cent protected.
No change will happen without the establishment of a law that protects them.
SAM calls for a ban on shark fishing and consumption in Sabah, before their decimation.
Sharks are an essential part of our ecosystem and they need our help to survive.
S.M. Mohd Idris, President, Sahabat Alam Malaysia