Calls to save a dorsal finned killer

But the shark too is under threat.

For people who cull sharks for the fishery industry, hunting them is normal practice, but it has raised concerns among conservationists about over-fishing and ecosystem impact and the need to preserve them.

While the United States and Australia are the world’s most shark-infested areas, Southeast Asia’s sea, notably around Indonesia, is the most dangerous place for sharks due to a massive fishery industry, a conservationist said.

The demand for fins and other shark products, notably in Hong Kong, China and Thailand, has driven a number of shark species close to extinction, said Luke Warwick, manager of Global Shark Conservation at Washington-based Pew Charitable Trusts.

Indonesia is the world’s leader in shark fishing. In 2011,103,245 tonnes of sharks (and their close relatives skates and rays) were killed – amounting to millions taken every year, he said, noting that many other countries are also catching far too many sharks.

Thailand ranked number 13 among the most shark catching countries – killing an average 18,532 tons annually during 2000-2011, according to a Food and Agriculture Organisation report.

The declining shark population causes more concern, compared to others, as the sharks grow slowly. They are late to mature and produce few young, Warwick said. They are especially vulnerable to overfishing and slow to recover from depletion, he added.

Losing its sharks could have consequences for the entire ocean ecology system. Sharks help maintain the health of marine life in the ocean, including populations of commercially important fish species.

This is especially important in a country like Indonesia where sharks and rays are so important to scuba diving ecotourism. A single reef shark can bring in nearly $2 million over its lifetime, versus $100 if it is killed for its meat and fins, he said.

Awareness of shark protection is growing in recent years. Governments in Pacific islands have been urged to end unsustainable shark commercial fishing.

Recently, the Chinese government prohibited serving shark fin for official dining functions. That helped reduce some demand but it remains high among people in markets around the world, said Warwick.

To protect sharks, strong protection is needed wherever these iconic marine predators are found. Countries need to either fully protect these species, just like top predators on land or whales and turtles in the ocean, or they need to put in place catch and trade controls that ensure all trade is sustainable, he said.

Established in 1948, the Pew Charitable Trust is a global non-government organisation that seeks to improve public policy in various fields, including the marine environment.

The organisation is also working on protection of tuna in the Pacific, according to Amanda Nickson, Pew’s Director of Global Tuna Conservation.

There are several species of tuna in the ocean – and 63 per cent of the global tuna catch is mainly skipjack and small yellow fin, which are primarily used for canning. But, bluefin tuna are kept in pens after capture and fattened for the lucrative sushi trade, she said.

Pacific Bluefin tuna particularly are in trouble, she said and added that after decades of overfishing, the population hovers at only four per cent of its original size. As few as 40,000 adult Pacific Bluefin remain in the ocean, according to a recent Pew study.

Bluefin are important to the ocean’s ecosystem – and to fishing industries in the Pacific. In Japan, the fish is part of a traditional auction of the year and always hits high prices. A 230-kilogram Pacific Bluefin tuna recently sold in Tokyo for $70,000, according to a Pew report. Such prices are what threaten its population.

In recent years, Japan has been the top tuna consumer, eating more that 80 per cent of the global catch. Indonesia and the Philippines, on the other hand, are the top tuna catchers, bringing in a combined 20 per cent of the global tuna caught.