Forget about the spurious benefits of eating shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy that is said to be responsible for the needless destruction of some 73 million sharks a year. In Palau, the first country in the world to proclaim a shark sanctuary, the sharks that frequent the Pacific island country’s reefs generate enormous financial benefits.
A single reef shark can contribute almost U.S.$2 million in its lifetime to the economy of Palau, according to a new study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the University of Western Australia.
”the economic benefits of the shark-diving industry”, that’s the language Palau understands. Thanks god there are still enough sharks in Palau that it’s worth going there as a diver. But where is the tiping point? What if a country doesn’t attract enough dive-tourists to generate the financial benefits that outweigh the shark fin trade? Is money the only reason for conservation? Praising Palau for protecting their sharks is not as noble as it seems. At the same time Palau is still supporting japanese efforts to legalize commercial whaling at the IWC meetings. Why? I guess supporting the Japanese generates more financial benefits than the Palauan whale-watching industry!