‘An unlikely help for shark conservation’
The volume of shark and ray catches in Sabah dropped by nearly half from 3,431.58 tonnes in 2012 to 1,788.46 last year
CATCHES of sharks and stingrays in Sabah waters have been declining steadily in the past five years. A factor in this, says the state Fisheries Department, is the drop in the number of fishing vessels operating in the east coast due to security concerns.
SECURITY concerns and erratic weather patterns appear to have reduced shark and ray landings in Sabah in the last five years.
The volume of shark and ray catches has dropped by nearly half from 3,431.58 tonnes in 2012 to 1,788.46 last year, said the Sabah Fisheries Department.
Assistant director (marine resource management) Lawrence Kissol Jr. said many factors contributed to the decline in shark and ray catches — a blessing for conservationists.
Due to security concerns in the east coast of Sabah and the 7pm to 5am daily curfew in 10 districts under the Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (Esszone), the number of foreign workers who were willing to go out to sea has declined.
Threats of kidnapping and cross-border crimes have prompted tighter security measures by the Eastern Sabah Security Command in Esszone.
“Because of this, the number of fishing vessels operating in the east coast has dropped,” he said, pointing out the weather patterns in the last few years were also not favourable.
Kissol Jr. reiterated the department did not issue a licence for shark or ray fishing in Sabah, adding that most were caught as bycatches.
“In Sabah, sharks and rays are caught unintentionally. Also, it’s not against the law if people caught sharks or rays and sold them, with the exception of whale shark and sawfish (ray) species,” he said.
Whale sharks and sawfishes are listed as threatened under the Fisheries (Control of Endangered Species of Fish) Regulations 1999, Fisheries Act 1985.
Although the department respected the view of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in pushing the government to list all shark and ray species under the regulations, Kissol Jr. said these marine creatures needed to be exploited in a sustainable way.
“The department has its own responsibility and we look at the situation differently.
“Sharks and rays are part of our ecosystem and if we don’t allow the taking of sharks, their population will grow and become predators to other fishes.
“So, the exploitation of sharks is a way of balancing the ecosystem as long as we don’t overexploit them.
“That’s why we have Fisheries Acts and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) 2008.
“When we see something that’s inappropriate like shark hunting, we don’t allow it.
“We issue licences for tuna and prawn fishing, but not for sharks.”
Kissol Jr. said no marine species listed under Cites were allowed to be exported without a permit, adding that the department gave no quotas to those who wished to export them.
He, however, said species listed under Cites could be sold domestically, provided they were not listed under the Fisheries Acts 1985.
He said the department had strengthened its enforcement capacity building and equipped enforcement personnel at airports and ports with a guidebook to
The government’s campaign is to encourage people to say no to shark fin. We have yet to have a law that completely bans it. Since 2015, the government has taken a step not to serve shark fin in any government function. LAWRENCE KISSOL JR. Assistant director (marine resource management)