Develop Policies to Regulate Shark fin Trafficking, Government Told

By Ronald Ngoba

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

The national government should develop policies to regulate shark fin trafficking in the Indian Ocean that is threatening the very existence of the species.

Francis Thoya, a shark value addition expert, says demand for shark fin soup abroad is driving the species to the brink of extinction.

In a interview in town, he said there was need for the government to develop legal framework that would regulate the business because millions of sharks were being killed each year primarily for their fins.

“The demand for shark products has seen shark population decline by a big percentage because even the local fishermen and fishmongers have been decrying over the shortage of these species.”

For these species to survive, according to him, the government must assert its authority through legal guidelines to protect sharks just like those that protect turtles in the ocean.

He said sharks were being captured through illegal fishing gears, and their fins hacked off and thrown back to the water where they die because they cannot survive without their fins.

“The government needs to intervene this matter by all means including creating awareness because the practice of finning occurs at the sea. We have people who hunt sharks only for their fins and fears are in order that our children might come and read about sharks only in books if we fail to intervene and protect them for posterity.”

According to him the dried fins are sold at a high price to overseas countries hence prompting the high demand.

Shark fin soup is primarily consumed in countries like China and Vietnam where it has historically been limited to the wealthy for special events such as weddings and banquet.

Kiti Mwasaha, a fisherman at Shee-Khamis landing site, calls for an amendment of existing laws or statutory regulations to include sharks as among the threatened species in the Kenya’s seafront.

He said the precarious state of sharks signal just how urgent the government and other key players need to intervene and address threats to the country’s marine ecosystem.

“It is in this context that protecting sharks should be a key priority both for devolve unities and the national government so as to achieve its full potential as a marine nation,” he said.

The fisherman calls on the government to institute amendments that would not only protect, but also conserve the endangered species.

To achieve a long-term shark population recovery, he said the government needs to enact necessary policies such as expanding marine protected areas, restoring marine habitats, and enforcing shark excluder devices on fishing vessels.

Remi Abdi, a fishmonger, said developing policies that would regulate sharks’ fishing required a concerted efforts from all key stakeholders.

This, in addition, to setting up research-driven shark population monitoring devices and recovery plans apart from creating awareness and protecting the ocean from unscrupulous traffickers out to deplete its marine resources.

“Commitment to save the endangered shark is required from all stakeholders because about 95 per cent of the Kenya’s coastal communities depend on vibrant marine ecosystem for survival and livelihood.”