A piece of fabulous and inspiring news for marine lovers everywhere. The state of Sabah is pushing for draft amendments to the federal Fisheries Act of 1985 to ban the hunting and finning of sharks in Malaysian waters.
The same legal provision was already enforced under Sabah’s wildlife conservation laws last year but despite this shark finning is still rampant in Sabah waters, with shark fins and stingrays still being sold openly in fish markets in Sandakan, Kudat and even Kota Kinabalu if you know where to go.
Due to the loophole where federal law does not ban this cruel act the activities continue and as such our Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun said that the government is still pursuing the matter and waiting for the laws to be amended.
“We are not just taking care of the sharks, but also taking care of our people,” Masidi stressed referring to the locals employed by the diving industries which depend on tourists coming to the state to see sharks swimming freely in Sabah waters.
We hope that the federal laws will be amended as soon as possible so that we can stop the killing immediately!
