Monday
23rd Dec 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Fisheries Minister Zaha. Photo: TMJ
Fisheries Minister Zaha Waheed has stated that there are discussions in place to end the ban on Shark fishing.
Minister Zaha stated this in response to a question posed by a member of the economic committee of People’s Majlis. According to Minister Zaha there are only a very few number of countries that protect Sharks. The Minister noted that amongst these countries are Palau and that Palau is not a country that is involved in fishing.
The introduction of shark fishing would be as manage fisheries, stated the Minister. A manage fishery is when fishing is opened up for a certain amount of time to make an economical profit. She stated that the fishing will continue in such a way that it won’t affect the numbers of the shark population in the Maldives.
Shark fishing in the Maldives began in 1970 and was banned in 2010 along with a ban on the sale and export of all shark-related products.
Fishermen of Maldives say that they’ve faced a lot of difficulty and losses after the ban on shark-fishing.