Leaders from eight countries launched an initiative last week to prevent the extinction of sharks, symbolizing the latest development in the growing movement to safeguard the ocean’s top predator.
Members of the coalition committed to a declaration supporting the development of sanctuaries that end commercial shark fishing in their national waters.
This announcement comes just one year after President Johnson Toribiong of Palau and President Porfirio Lobo Sosa of Honduras issued a global challenge to protect dwindling shark species. Several countries, states and territories have answered that call by committing to a range of conservation policies. This year, Honduras, the Bahamas, the Maldives and Tokelau have created sanctuaries for sharks off their shores, and the countries of Micronesia committed to establishing them in their waters.
Commercial fishing of these animals is now prohibited in more than 2.7 million square kilometres, an area larger than Mexico and Texas combined. Domestically, trade bans on sharks and shark products have recently been passed in California, Washington and Oregon, and internationally in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
