One Year Later: The World's Largest Shark Sanctuary

By Evan O'Neil | October 23, 2012

Sharks die by the millions every year, their fins severed and sold mostly to Asia where they texture the luxurious eponymous soup. Efforts are under way to conserve sharks as a migratory species [PDF], but the Marshall Islands archipelago has already acted to preserve sharks in its local waters. The islands are celebrating the first anniversary of a shark sanctuary covering nearly 2 million square kilometers, the largest in the world.

Since passing the conservation law, the Marshallese have seen the situation shift from rampant illegal fishing to arrests, confiscation, and fines—the latter providing income to sustain the conservation program. But to be truly effective, as several local officials mention in this video from Pew Charitable Trusts, enforceable shark conservation zones will have to spread throughout the Pacific so that shark killers will have "nowhere to run" and no safe harbor.