Shark sanctuary

[2] The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that more than half of shark species are overexploited or depleted.

[2] Sharks generally reach sexual maturity only after several years of life and produce very few offspring in comparison to other harvested fish.

[2][4] Palau forbids all commercial shark fishing within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters.

The sanctuary protects about 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi) of ocean,[2] an area similar to the country of France.

[14] In August, 2011, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Guam announced plans to join Palau in a region-wide sanctuary that covers 2,000,000 square miles (5,200,000 km2) of ocean.

[17] In 1991 South Africa became the first country in the world to declare great white sharks a legally protected species.

[21] Sharks are a common seafood in many places around the world, including China (shark-fin soup), Japan, Australia (fish and chips under the name flake), in India (under the name sora in Tamil language and Telugu language), and Icelanders eat Greenland sharks as hákarl.

[23] Around 80% of shark fins are derived as accidental by-catch, which are quickly sold to the market due to their high price.

Hong Kong imports it from North and South American countries, particularly for use in either a cooked format or to prepare boiled soup, as a health fad, by mixing it with herbals supplements.

The anti cancer claims of such powders marketed in many parts of the world has been discounted by the US Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commissions and medical studies.

[27] It is also stated that in Costa Rica, one single firm alone processed 235,000 sharks every month to manufacture cartilage pills.