THE movie Jaws, based on Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel and masterfully directed by a young Steven Spielberg, has made us think twice about going into the water.
Four decades later, some of us still think of sharks as nothing more than malevolent killing machines.
This misperception clouds the fact that these creatures are part of the fragile balance of nature.
And when people care less, it hampers the efforts to save sharks from over-fishing and the horrible practices of the shark fin trade.
Fortunately, there is growing awareness that the world’s shark populations are under threat and that this affects us all.
But is Malaysia responding with sufficient urgency?
Last year, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation published a technical paper on the state of the global market for shark products. The figures in the report show that Malaysia is no small fry in the shark fishing business.
Based on numbers reported between 2000 and 2011, it was the world’s ninth-largest shark fishing country. It is also believed to be among the top four largest importers of shark fins, mainly from Thailand. This suggests that Malaysia has a huge appetite for shark fins.
The Sabah government is sensitive to how sharks are valuable to the state’s tourism sector and it has long pushed for a ban on shark hunting and finning (the killing of sharks just for their fins), specifically via amendments of the Fisheries Act.
However, the Federal Government has said such a move is unnecessary because sharks are mostly a bycatch in Malaysia rather than the intended targets of fishermen. Sabah now plans to declare three of its marine parks as shark sanctuaries by middle of the year.
But there are other ways to help protect the sharks. Yesterday, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) called on its members and partners to boycott restaurants that serve shark fins.
The sharks in Sabah’s waters are a major attraction for divers. Last year, 55,000 divers visited the state and they accounted for millions of ringgit in revenue.
Many tourists are environmentally conscious, said the association, and if we continued to allow our sharks to be slaughtered, the promotion of ecotourism will fail.
It is commendable that MATTA is publicly taking a stand on this issue. Sure, shark conservation is aligned with the interests of the travel industry, but the bigger picture here is the focus on sustainability and doing the right thing.
Reducing the demand for shark fins is certainly worth striving for. There are other big issues to grapple with (such as the growing demand for shark meat in response to anti-finning laws) but it is always encouraging when the business community is willing to give Mother Nature a hand. That tells us that taking a long-range view means a lot more than quick gains and immediate gratification.
We can point the finger at Benchley and Spielberg for casting sharks as the undeserved villains of the sea back in the 1970s, but we have only ourselves to blame if we let fiction drown out the reality that the over-exploitation of the planet’s resources may well be the scariest story ever.
Article Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/the-star-says/2016/03/30/time-to-change-mindset-and-save-the-sharks/
Four decades later, some of us still think of sharks as nothing more than malevolent killing machines.
This misperception clouds the fact that these creatures are part of the fragile balance of nature.
And when people care less, it hampers the efforts to save sharks from over-fishing and the horrible practices of the shark fin trade.
Fortunately, there is growing awareness that the world’s shark populations are under threat and that this affects us all.
But is Malaysia responding with sufficient urgency?
Last year, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation published a technical paper on the state of the global market for shark products. The figures in the report show that Malaysia is no small fry in the shark fishing business.
Based on numbers reported between 2000 and 2011, it was the world’s ninth-largest shark fishing country. It is also believed to be among the top four largest importers of shark fins, mainly from Thailand. This suggests that Malaysia has a huge appetite for shark fins.
The Sabah government is sensitive to how sharks are valuable to the state’s tourism sector and it has long pushed for a ban on shark hunting and finning (the killing of sharks just for their fins), specifically via amendments of the Fisheries Act.
However, the Federal Government has said such a move is unnecessary because sharks are mostly a bycatch in Malaysia rather than the intended targets of fishermen. Sabah now plans to declare three of its marine parks as shark sanctuaries by middle of the year.
But there are other ways to help protect the sharks. Yesterday, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) called on its members and partners to boycott restaurants that serve shark fins.
The sharks in Sabah’s waters are a major attraction for divers. Last year, 55,000 divers visited the state and they accounted for millions of ringgit in revenue.
Many tourists are environmentally conscious, said the association, and if we continued to allow our sharks to be slaughtered, the promotion of ecotourism will fail.
It is commendable that MATTA is publicly taking a stand on this issue. Sure, shark conservation is aligned with the interests of the travel industry, but the bigger picture here is the focus on sustainability and doing the right thing.
Reducing the demand for shark fins is certainly worth striving for. There are other big issues to grapple with (such as the growing demand for shark meat in response to anti-finning laws) but it is always encouraging when the business community is willing to give Mother Nature a hand. That tells us that taking a long-range view means a lot more than quick gains and immediate gratification.
We can point the finger at Benchley and Spielberg for casting sharks as the undeserved villains of the sea back in the 1970s, but we have only ourselves to blame if we let fiction drown out the reality that the over-exploitation of the planet’s resources may well be the scariest story ever.
Article Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/the-star-says/2016/03/30/time-to-change-mindset-and-save-the-sharks/