SHARKS OF PALAU
Sharks are an ancient and magnificent dwellers of the ocean. There are more than 250 species of sharks in the world mainly pelagic sharks and reef sharks. It has been recorded that there are 17 species of sharks in Palau, which includes the bull shark, blacktip shark, tiger shark, nurse shark and others. Today, sharks are heavily exploited by commercial longline fisheries for nothing more than their fins. The fins of the sharks are cut off and then used to make Shark Fin Soup and it is believed in Chinese folklore that the soup possess aphrodisiac elements. But it has been found that it is not true and that every year over a 100 million sharks are killed for their fins and their body are thrown out to sea. The shark fins contains nothing, but only the scale and skin covering the cartilage that is similar to the cartilages in human noses and ears. It doesn’t contain much nutritional value but it is being highly overfished every year. They are caught in nets from the commercial fishing vessels and sold to markets around the world. This practice is not sustainable and that scientists are concerned that the depletion of sharks might lead into extinction if not stopped. Sharks plays a very important role in the marine ecosystem and known to be the top predator in the marine food chain. Sharks play a key role in stabilizing the marine ecological system by eliminating the sick/weak fishes and that the overall fish population are guaranteed mostly healthy. Also prevent over population of various fish and invertebrate species, which would thus dominate food supplies, which will cause other species to die out. Some studies shows that the extinction of sharks will cause the marine ecosystem to collapse and that a decline of shark will also cause a decline of tuna fish. Sharks in Palau serves as not only a vital ecological resource, but also a leading economical resource for Palau’s tourism industry, and that the economic value of sharks in Palau is higher alive rather than dead. Palau is known to be the first shark sanctuary in the world and that the protection of sharks is highly authorized.