Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Marshalls bid to curb shark finning

Posted at 01:38 on 09 June, 2011 UTC

The Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority is drafting legislation to control shark finning and sea cucumber harvesting.

The Fisheries Director, Glen Joseph, says its aim is to have the new legislation ready for parliament’s August session, the last one before the November national election.

The fisheries department imposed a ban on shark fishing and sea cucumber harvesting earlier this year over concern about the level of unregulated exploitation of shark fins and sea cucumbers.

Mr Joseph says one fishery department’s aims is to reduce the amount of shark by-catch that longliners get when fishing for tuna.

He says this can be accomplished in part by requiring improvements to fishing gear.