By Olivia Miwil - June 6, 2021 @ 12:32pm
KOTA KINABALU: A hypermarket pledging not to sell hammerhead sharks is a sweet victory for scuba divers.
After pictures of the business premises selling the endangered species were shared widely among divers, the hypermarket concerned had issued an apology letter and pledged not to sell the fish anymore.
Blu Hope co-founder Monica Chin said for scuba divers, seeing sharks swim was a magical moment.
According to a study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) 2018, the annual business revenue from shark diving for the dive tourism industry in Semporna was USD6.4 million (RM 26.4 mil) per year.
The report also showed that shark diving was associated with the generation of 796 jobs that yielded USD2.8 million (RM11.6 mil) per year in salaries for employees.
"Many are willing to pay more to come to Sabah just to dive and see the sharks. However, in Sabah, we keep on counting dead sharks in the markets.
"When I was tagged on the Facebook group of divers, I felt very upset to see dead baby hammerhead sharks being sold," she said, but expressed joy that the hypermarket decided to heed recommendations on omitting the species from their shelves.
Chin, who is also an avid diver, said with this hypermarket taking the lead in banning shark meat, it would definitely set an example for others to follow their action.
She added that shark meat was bad for human health especially for women as the species contained high levels of mercury.
"Like I always tell my dive buddies, we are the eyes and voices for our ocean. I feel very happy to see so many scuba divers keen to protect sharks and are well aware of the importance of saving sharks.
"I also hope the Fisheries Department will look into the legislation of the fishing act on commercial fishing seriously before it is too late like what happened to our last rhinoceros."
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