Palau appeals for new shark haven to be respected
 
 
September 28, 2009

 
An Australian national marine unit officer holds shark fins found on a 
detained fishing vessel off Australia's northern coastline. The tiny 
Pacific republic of Palau, which has declared itself the world's first 
shark sanctuary, has urged international respect for the decision to 
compensate for its lack of enforcement ability.
 
An Australian national marine unit officer holds shark fins found on a 
detained fishing vessel off Australia's northern coastline. The tiny 
Pacific republic of Palau, which has declared itself the world's first 
shark sanctuary, has urged international respect for the decision to 
compensate for its lack of enforcement ability.
Photograph by: AFP,

KOROR – The tiny Pacific republic of Palau, which has declared itself 
the world's first shark sanctuary, has urged international respect for 
the decision to compensate for its lack of enforcement ability.

President Johnson Toribiong unveiled details of the sanctuary in his 
speech to the United Nations on Friday.

However, the small country which presides over rich fishing grounds has 
only one patrol ship to enforce the sanctuary in Palau's 621,600 square 
kilometre (237,000 square mile) exclusive economic zone, an area about 
the size of France.

Toribiong, who described sharks as "a natural barometer for the health 
of our oceans", appealed to world leaders to join Palau's effort to 
protect the sharks.

"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," he said.

"We call upon all nations to join us."

Palau came to prominence as a shark campaigner in 2003 with the 
introduction of anti-shark fishing legislation which carries a $250,000 
US fine for fishing, mutilation and transport of sharks in Palau 
waters.

Then president Tommy Remengesau Jr. staged a spectacular protest that 
same year when he publicly set fire to shark fins seized from a foreign 
vessel found in Palau waters.

However, shark fishing remains a lucrative business, especially with 
the demand in parts of Asia for shark's fin soup, and a recent flyover 
of Palau waters found more than 70 foreign fishing vessels, many of 
them operating illegally.

"It is anomalous that Palau is experiencing economic difficulty while 
it sits in the middle of the richest waters in the world. We can no 
longer stand by while foreign vessels illicitly come to our waters," 
Toribiong said.

About 130 shark species are found in Palau waters and Matt Rand, 
director of the Pew Environment Group?s global shark conservation 
campaign, said the sanctuary declaration would fill a "dire need" to 
save the creatures.

"More than one third of the world?s shark species are threatened or 
near threatened with extinction," Rand said.

Dermot Keane, founder of the Palau Shark Sanctuary, believed 
Toribiong's initiative would take marine conservation and shark 
protection to a new level.

It sends the message that "shark fishing is no longer acceptable and 
that the country will enforce its laws and those who violate it should 
be held liable".

With a population of about 21,000, Palau is one of the smallest 
countries in the world with an economy heavily reliant on tourism and 
fishing.

Much of the tourist activity is centered on diving and snorkelling in 
tropical waters filled with coral reefs, marine life and World War II 
wrecks.