Black tip reef shark (Carcharhinidae) captive Blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinidae) Beqa
Galeocerdo cuvier Tiger shark
Grey reef
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harks come from the Class Chondrichtyes and are also known as the cartilaginous fishes. They’ve inhabited our oceans for millions of years, roaming and regulating the biodiversity of the ecosystem. Today, sharks all over the world are being harvested for their fins to the point of extinction. To curb their depleting populations, our leaders passed a law that would protect our sharks. In January 2011, CNMI Legislation passed House Bill 17-94, now CNMI Public Law 17-27, that prohibits any person from possessing, selling, offering for sale, trading, or distributing shark fins in the CNMI. The CNMI PL 17-27 will complement shark conservation efforts alongside the Palau Shark Sanctuary which was founded in 2001 in an effort to end the killing of Palau’s sharks; Hawaii’s law banning all shark products in 2010; and the Shark Conservation Act which was signed by U.S. President Barak Obama in 2011. These laws were established to ban the inhumane acts of shark finning in which off-shore fishermen harvest these animals’ fins and dump them back into sea. Sharks require a constant flow of water to be passed through their gills in order to “breathe”; without their fins, they suffocate and die. To add another layer of protection, our Micronesian leaders gathered together in 2011 at the 15th Micronesian Chief Executive Summit and agreed on the creation of a Micronesia Regional Shark Sanctuary which will be the first of its kind.
25 Tops + MORE march 2012
By Francisco C. Villagomez
In 2011 Austin J. Gallagher and Dr. Neil Hammerschlag from the University of Miami examined the impact of these apex predators on coastal economies and the importance of including shark conservation. They found that a single reef shark could be valued at $73 a day alive, as opposed to a bowl of shark fin soup at $50. It is possible that shark-watching, a form of ecotourism could be a key approach to help boost our ailing economy. Sharks also play a key role in the regulation of the biodiversity in our coral reefs. For example, in Tasmania, Australia, the overfishing of sharks caused a boom in their main prey, octopus, which caused a crashed the spiny lobster fishery. A complete removal of sharks in our waters may cause a severe unbalance to our ecosystem. Because sharks are slow growing animals, have late maturation, and have few young, they are more vulnerable to the threat of extinction and are more susceptible to overfishing. To protect our sharks, the community is urged to support the Micronesia Regional Shark Sanctuary agreement to prohibit the exportation of, commercial fishing and selling of any shark, shark part or shark product with in the Micronesia Region, including Palau, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia and her four states: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae.