Huge shark sanctuary may become reality

A resolution by leaders of the Federated States of Micronesia begins the process of creating what would be the world's largest shark sanctuary, covering more than two million square miles of ocean — equivalent of two-thirds the land area of the United States.

It was passed last week at the 15th Micronesian Chief Executive Summit. The four nations are The Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. The agreement also begins development of a regional ban on the possession, sale and trade of shark fins.

"The world must rise with us to protect our oceans and our environment," said Johnson Toribiong, president of the Republic of Palau, said in a release. "That is the moral obligation of this generation for the benefit of the next."

The Micronesian states join several others, including Honduras, the Bahamas and the Maldives, in creating shark sanctuaries. There is a growing realization among these nations that shark tourism can bring in more money than selling shark fins, mainly used to make a prestigious soup in China and other Asian nations.

"Their leadership should serve as a model for other coastal nations to safeguard these important keystone species which are rapidly disappearing from the world's oceans, primarily as a result of the escalating demand for shark fins in China and other Asian countries," says Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation for the Pew Environment Group, which worked to help make the sanctuary happen.

The news comes as shark conservation groups are mourning what's being called a shark massacre in the protected Galapagos National Park, in which over 350 sharks were illegally caught and finned.