World's First Shark Sanctuary (VIDEO)

Sharks may have once been at the top of the food chain, but with 73 million now killed each year and 30 percent threatened with extinction, island countries from the Bahamas and Honduras to Palau and Guam are taking action to protect them by introducing conservation-friendly laws and shark sanctuaries, reports The New York Times.

Keeping shark populations at healthy levels doesn't just positively impact the environment. Countries have also been swayed by campaigners, like the Pew Center, who argue that there are economic benefits of tourism. In a study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, they estimated that the annual value to the tourism industry of an individual reef shark that swims through these sites was $179,000, or $1.9 million over its lifetime. If a poacher kills a single reef shark, it would only bring an estimated $108.

To take a closer look at what happens at these shark sanctuaries, watch CNN's video coverage of the world's first shark sanctuary in Palau, set up by a politician and shark conservationist in September 2009.

WATCH:

Comments

[Igor Purlantov]

11:27 AM on 07/20/2011

Sharks are incredible animals. Unless more action is taken to save them, they may soon become extinct.

[EcoHustler]

10:17 AM on 07/20/2011

In many capital cities around the world people sit down and eat endangered shark fins. We went down to London's China town and let people know what we thought about this nastiness... check it out:

We joined the Shark Side!

http://www.ecohustler.co.uk/2011/05/11/we-joined-the-shark-side/

[Christinaa]

08:41 AM on 07/20/2011

I'm all for a protect area for sharks. After all, they have taken a serious hit: http://www.earthrangers.com/wildwire/omg-facts/sharks-in-trouble/
However, I'm not entirely sure that hunting is the main issue. It probably also has something to do with the fact that we are destroying the reefs.
No reefs = No reef sharks

[Anne Mccormick]

02:05 AM on 07/20/2011

i'm all in favor of providing a safe place for sharks. doesn't mean i want to go swimming with them.

[somedude1513]

11:39 PM on 07/19/2011

In Ocean City, MD, at the end of the boardwalk, they display all of the record sharks caught off the shore; a mako and a tiger (both giant). People try to break these records every year killing tons of them. I wish they would stop this. Hopefully people have enough sense not to kill the ones that obviously arent big enough (or any of them but thats unreal without laws). I love sharks, I'm just venting and thats my local outlook on this sort of thing.

[Malcolm Hensley]

11:07 PM on 07/19/2011

Funny we are talking about mostly reef sharks.

With increasing pH in our oceans killing the reefs and taking away the habitat of the fishes the sharks live off of -- well makes this whole exercise pointless don't you think?

[somedude1513]

11:40 PM on 07/19/2011

You are sooo right!

[Rudderman]

09:23 PM on 07/19/2011

'Bout time. Well done.
Somewhat related...I've mailed the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce over the years to protest their annual shark tournament.
It's barbaric and there is no need for such senseless slaughter in this day and age.
"Jaws", (filmed there in '75) created a fear that exists to this day.
Leave the animals alone.

[amaboss52]

06:31 PM on 07/19/2011

Bout time we started protecting them. Killing for the thrill of it, finning and all the other horrid things people do, we are sinking our own ship. Thank heavens there are still people with brains.

[oscardogabroad]

07:07 PM on 07/19/2011

Worth reading

[Moose Luck 99]

05:35 PM on 07/19/2011

Great idea how many end up as sushi in Japanese fish markets. They will call anything a delicacy specially BABY SEALS!!

What In The World Are They Spraying?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf0khstYDLA

[MSROADKILL612]

05:01 PM on 07/19/2011

Am proud that OZ gets a mention on this important initiative. Do we really have the right, or do we benefit, from extinguishing a species because they can dominate us in their milieu?

[MSROADKILL612]

04:56 PM on 07/19/2011

More wall street lobbying, a safe haven where they will be granted professional courtesy.

[MSROADKILL612]

05:15 PM on 07/19/2011

Forgot to say "tax payer funded"

[CarlyHope]

05:59 PM on 07/19/2011

how is this wall st lobbying?

[MSROADKILL612]

12:09 AM on 07/20/2011

Its a joke - looking after their own (sharks)

[Master-T]

04:24 PM on 07/19/2011

It's astonishing that this is what humans have come to. We are so greedy that we have to create sanctuaries for a species that has existed for over 400 million years. We are so destructive the even sharks need safe haven from us.

There's going to come a time when humans are forced to accept reality: We are of this earth yet we treat it as if it belongs to us. Shameless capitalists will be first in line when that day of reckoning comes.

[Matt Chernesky]

05:51 PM on 07/19/2011

I agree. I hope someday we're able to bring back some of the animals throughout time that we have killed in our quest for global dominance and survival.

[Genders]

10:37 PM on 07/19/2011

Heck humans killed off the really big dangerous animals, you got it. It is amazing to contemplate, that Sharks need protection from Humans. wow. thanks.