The proposal to ban shark finning has been supported by Fiji Fish CEO Russell Dunham.
Government today announced that they are looking to ban shark finning to safeguard the shark population and marine environment.
While Dunham supports the proposal, he says long-line tuna operators such as theirs will not be able to avoid catching sharks.
When you are long-lining you will still catch sharks whether they are banned for export or sale. It makes no difference. From my personal perspective I don’t think its going to improve shark population because for long-lining you cant put a sign on the bait for sharks not to bite.
However Dunham says the positive effect of the ban is that it will discourage boats, particularly foreign Asian vessels that target shark fins and fish close to coastal areas.
While shark fins have been used to supplement crew income – Dunham says this is not significant enough to be a major issue.
He says for the local fishing industry, more money is made from tuna than shark fins.