Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) condemns the slaughter of sharks at Mabul Island in Sabah. The agriculture minister should re-look this matter with urgency and wake up to the fact that sharks around Sabah are losing the battle for survival. How long will they be able to withstand man’s onslaught is something to be seen. As long as there is no protection for sharks, the demand for their body parts will continue unabated causing the population to plummet further.

Such heinous acts of killing committed on sharks needs thorough investigation by the concerned authorities, and perpetrators of such acts must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

In fact, it is the sharks which are in need of much greater protection from humans and the ramifications for losing sharks - the key predator from the food chain - are huge. Other sea life will suffer and the realm of jellyfish will continue to expand.

The sight of a shark fin cutting through the surface of the ocean inspires feelings of either fear or awe but for others, that fin inspires something entirely different - greed.

Malaysia ranks 15th among the world’s top 20 shark-catching nations. The high value and strong demand for their fins makes sharks attractive and the targeting of these large cartilaginous fish cannot be ruled out. A survey by two local groups in Sabah in 2011 discovered sharks widely sold at the markets minus their fins.

A 2015 media picture of shark fins drying out in the open outside a shop in downtown Kota Kinabalu substantiated the fact that sharks are still very much being hunted for their fins. Sabah had 118 species of sharks but only 19 species has been seen in Sabah fish markets.

Other threats to sharks are long-line and purse-seine tuna fleets. In view of the drastic decline in the number of sharks entangled in nets over the past few years since 2011 compared to the previous five years, the Federation of Sabah Fisheries and Fishing Trawler Association members backed plans for a ban. However, they explained that sharks caught in nets are unavoidable considering the method of trawler fishing.

A study conducted by Traffic revealed that Malaysia caught 231,212 tonnes of sharks from 2002 to 2011, accounting for 2.9 percent of the total global reported shark catch during that period.

Sharks are more vulnerable than many other species to over-fishing and over-harvesting. They should be accorded as much protection as the orang-utans and other endangered land mammals. They need both enforcement and shark sanctuaries where small areas are 100 percent protected. No change will happen without the establishment of a protection law.

SAM urges for a ban on shark fishing and consumption in Sabah before their total decimation. Sharks are an essential part of our ecosystem and they need our help to survive.

SM MOHAMED IDRIS is president, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM).