Live Sharks Are Worth More

Palau declared its terrotorial waters as a shark sanctuary and for good reason. The Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Uniiversity of Western Australia estimates that one thrasher shark is worth $2m throughout its lifetime. That's tourist revenue  for the country of Palau. (National Geographic Article)

That's a huge tourist draw. Plus the shark is a self generating resource so long as we let them breed. It's like people visiting a tree in your back yard and generating two million dollars over 20 or so years. And they make more of themselves!

I want to spread the word because we have similar resources, the most well known being the Donsol Whale Sharks. That resource needs to be protected from ignorance and greed:

Whale Shark Killed for Food
Juvenile Whale Shark killed in the Philippines

This is tantamount to killing the duck that lays the golden eggs. Shark fins can go for 800Australian dollars per kg. One thousand kilograms would then be worth 800,000 Australian dollars. Even if you get this much fin from one shark its less than half of $2 million. Plus, live sharks breed, creating more tourist dollars the longer they thrive. Economically, killing them makes little sense.

This is not an environment vs economy argument. Protecting the sharks does both. If you want to find a group you can start with:
SharkFinCrisis on Facebook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwtFZc5pwsA
Chasing Whale Sharks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-uPOMSJe40