Marshall Islands and Palau have become the member of countries working towards saving sharks from extinction by developing and maintaining sanctuaries for the endangered animal. They have signed an agreement to prohibit commercial fishing of sharks in almost three million square kilometres of ocean. According to scientists sharks are threatened by overfishing and finning, with numbers of the scalloped hammerhead shark falling by 99 percent over the past 30 years.
The signing of treaty follows a commitment Palau President Johnson Toribiong made last year to protect shark species on the brink of extinction in international waters, and which he reiterated this year. He told that Palau is committed to protect the health of the Oceans by protecting the sharks, the most brutally killed marine life for the sake of their fins.
Jill Hepp, shark expert at Pew Environment Group, said that sharks are the most likely fish to become extinct within our lifetime. He said that record shows that around 73 million sharks are harvested annually for their fins to support the fin trade for shark fin soup… so there definitely is concern. Sharks are targeted in fishing expeditions but can also unintentionally become bycatch in non-shark related fishing, making up as much as 25 per cent of any catch.
