KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Shark Protection Association (SSPA) will implement key strategies to ensure the survival of sharks and stingrays in the country, particularly Sabah.
The advocacy group said it will work with relevant governmental departments to strengthen laws to protect various marine species from going extinct.
SSPA chairman Aderick Chong said over the last three decades, an increasing number of sharks and stingrays had been caught in Sabah as they were not legally protected.
He said in response, the group has recently launched an initiative to focus on law and policy reform that will be supported by research.
“This will include new studies on the market value of these species and whether these landings are from targeted fisheries or by catch. Research will also look at the market value for shark and ray-related eco-tourism.
“Our focus on awareness will see us rolling out impactful campaigns that support law and policy reform by engaging audiences about the biological and financial importance for sharks and rays,” he said.
Their target audiences, he said, ranges from policy makers to students and fishing communities.
He said SSPA plans to hold a gathering of decision makers in March 2018 to establish a roadmap to ensure the sustainability of sharks and stingrays in the state’s waters and beyond.
He said Malaysia needed to be transparent in monitoring the trade of shark and stingrays, following a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund and Traffic that the country was an “active player” in the illegal trade.
According to Traffic’s report on Singapore’s shark trade in May 2017, Chong said Malaysia is one of the major trasding partners to Singapore and was ranked fifth (from 2005 to 2007) and sixth (from 2012 to 2014) in the list of destinations for the nation’s shark fin exports by trade quantity.
“The report states the demand for shark and ray products in Singapore is being met by either unsustainable or entirely unknown sources due to current lack of genuine sustainable shark and ray fisheries systems, or adequate traceable systems with appropriate trade data recording.
“SSPA believes that the situation is similar in Malaysia at a time when high demand for shark fin continues to be the main driver of unsustainable fishing of sharks globally,” added Chong.