Tourists who participated in the 7th Annual Shark Week openly expressed their disappointment of the proposed bill and aired their concerns during a lecture and discussion last Wednesday night.
The tourists, most of whom are avid divers, incited a chorused “NO” when asked if they would come to Palau if sharks ceased to exist in the waters.The divers said they are not advocates of the bill and they are hoping that Palau lawmakers would recognize and acknowledge the potentially detrimental consequences that are likely to take place if the proposed act is approved.The tourists, along with a number of concerned individuals, have put together a list of concerns about the proposed bill.Tova Harel-Bornovski, one of the founding members of the Micronesian Shark Foundation, is expected to present the list to the Senate today. The proposed bill introduced by Sen. Paul Ueki is currently in the Senate Committee on Resources and Development which is chaired by Sen. Adalbert Eledui.The bill stated that it will impose a tax on the export of sharks and tuna-like species.Bornovski said she and the other members of the environmental and conservation group is hoping that lawmakers in Palau will hear their concerns.“Please don’t pass this bill,” she said in an interview with Horizon, Wednesday night.“Well it’s all about money but when you look at the income of sharks it will be just a year or two because they will all die and it will take 30 years to reproduce so there’s no chance at all versus the huge tourism industry which was spread all over Palau like the restaurants, hotels, boat operators and supermarkets. So it’s a multimillion dollar industry versus a few hundred thousands,”Bornovski said.She said Palau will make more income with the living sharks and not on the fisheries industry.“Palau is making money right now. It has income from the living sharks but not from the dead sharks. The dead sharks will just give the country money only once but the living sharks it will continue to bring in money in more years to come.”“You saw the tourists’ reactions, you heard them and how they reacted to this bill and more so the whole eco system will also depreciate so it’s going to be a big impact to our tourism industry,”Bornovski said.Mandy Etpison, French Honorary Consul said that she is totally against the repeal of the law.“This is where Palau’s tourism is built on,” Etpison said.Senator Eledui who was one of the speakers on Tuesday, urged the participants to submit a comment or recommendation about the bill.“We should hear your comments to help us do the right decision whether the bill must go or remain where it is,” he said. Senator Eledui talked about talked about conservation programs in Palau.He thanked the other speakers and the members of the MSF for their efforts to help protect the Sharks.“The data that you gathered and the information that you collected will help improve the management strategies of sharks in Palau,” he said. Dr. Mark Meekan, from Australian Institute of Marine Science said there are about 100 to 200 million of sharks killed every year for fisheries.He said for the last ten years there are a major decline in the population of sharks in the Atlantic and some places in Pacific because of the growing demands in shark’s fisheries.Meekan presented this report in his talk on Wednesday night at the Barracuda Bar as part of the 7th Annual Sharks Week.His topic was “Is the World’s largest fish getting smaller?”
