In the Marshall Islands of the Pacific, the largest marine park-sanctuary in the world for the protection of sharks has just been created . The sanctuary covers an area of almost 2 million square kilometers of ocean, which is comparable to the territory of Mexico, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
The initiative comes at a time when two-thirds of the world's sharks are in danger of extinction . To protect the sharks, certain types of fishing utensils will be prohibited, the rights of fishing vessels will be restricted – since they require greater control of landings – and high fines will be implemented in case of capture. These restrictions, in addition to protecting sharks – an estimated 100 million sharks are caught annually for business by selling their fins – will help maintain the biodiversity of the oceans .
The conservation effort for shark species began in 2009, when the Republic of Palau , an island country 800 kilometers from the Philippines that includes more than 200 islands, declared its territorial waters a sanctuary and prohibited the fishing of these species in its waters. . Since then Honduras, the Bahamas, the Maldives and Tokelau have also joined the cause.
