Palau urged other nations to join this initiative.
Palau, however, has only one patrol ship to monitor its waters.
Toribiong’s pronouncement will protect about 237,000 square miles of ocean.
“It is anomalous that Palau is experiencing economic difficulty while it sits in the middle of the richest waters in the world. We can no longer stand by while foreign vessels illicitly come to our waters to take our greatest resource, our tuna stocks, without regard to their conservation and without regard for adequate compensation to the island states which rely on this resource,” Toribiong said.
In 2003, then-Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr. signed the anti-shark fishing legislation.
The law bans commercial shark fishing, and foreign fishing boats are prohibited from shark fishing, mutilation and transport within the waters of Palau.
The law imposes a $250,000 fine per offense.
Last March, a bill was introduced to repeal the anti-shark fishing law but it remains pending in the legislature.
In his speech, Toribiong also called for an end to bottom-trawling. He said he will work for the establishment of the Organization of Tuna Exporting Countries to obtain a fair value from “our threatened resources and to make tuna fishing sustainable. “
Dermot Keane, founder of the Palau Shark Sanctuary, lauded Toribiong’s initiative.
He said Palau has a strong shark protection statute and the president’s efforts places “Palau in the forefront of marine conservation and shark protection.”
Keane said members of the community and the tourism association are planning a big welcome for the president when he returns to Palau.
Toribiong’s initiative sends a strong message that “shark fishing is no longer acceptable and that the country will enforce its laws and those who violate it should be held liable,” Keane said.
There are about 130 shark species found in Palau waters.
