The BBC is reporting that shark fishing has been banned in the Bahamas! About time. My lab is working on the role of sharks and other top predators in coral reef food webs and one of the few places in the Caribbean that we can go to work with sharks is the Bahamas. This ban went in before it was too late. On most Caribbean reefs sharks are as rare as a liberal in a Monster Truck Rally.
The Bahamas has banned shark fishing in its waters and prohibited the sale, import and export of shark products.
The new law will effectively turn all 630,000 sq km (243,000 square miles) of the nation’s territorial waters into a shark sanctuary.
The ban was approved by Agriculture Minister Larry Cartwright in the capital, Nassau, on Tuesday. The archipelago joins Honduras, the Maldives and Palau in outlawing shark fishing.
Read the rest here
Hat tip to Abel
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