Taiwan to Ban Whale Shark Harvest

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan will ban the harvest and sale of whale sharks beginning next year, Taiwanese fisheries department officials said Monday, in a move hailed by environmentalists as an important step toward protecting the species.

Taiwan is the world's top market for whale shark meat and the country has approved the export of live whale sharks to aquariums.

Although the number of whale sharks worldwide is unknown, national data has raised concerns that the species, the world's largest fish, could be in rapid decline.

"From the beginning of next year there will be a total ban on catching and selling whale sharks and whale shark meat," said Lan Wei-tern, a spokesman for Taiwan's Fisheries Agency.

Whale sharks were classified as "vulnerable to extinction" under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 2002. But in Taiwan, where the big fish is better known as "tofu shark" because its flesh is soft and smooth, many restaurants continue to sell the meat.

"The ban by Taiwan is absolutely fantastic news," said Brad Norman, director of Ecocean, an Australian nonprofit group working to protect whale sharks globally.

"The number of whale sharks has dropped dramatically over the past few years and the ban sends a message both to Taiwan and the rest of the world that officials there recognize how imperiled this animal is," he said.

The Maldives, where locals used oil from whale sharks' livers to treat boats, banned whale shark fishing in 1995, followed by the Philippines in 1998 and India in 2001.

China is the only government other than Taiwan that allows a significant number of whale sharks to be killed. Beijing banned commercial fishing of whale sharks in 2002, but has not banned the sale of whale sharks caught in traps laid for other fish, said Dai Xiaojie, a professor at Shanghai Fisheries University.

Without a law forbidding the sale of whale shark meat in China, "China will probably just become the world's largest market for whale shark after Taiwan restricts their market," Dai said.

Because of poor enforcement, Chinese laws banning the intentional killing of whale sharks have little impact, Dai added.

The Taiwanese government began to regulate the number of whale sharks that could be caught in 2002, when they allowed a harvest of 80 fish, and has steadily lowered the limit.

So far this year, 39 whale sharks have been caught in Taiwan waters, Chen Tien-shou, deputy director-general of Taiwan's Fisheries Agency, said last week. Because Taiwan only permitted 30 whale sharks to be sold this year, the other nine have been released, as will any more caught this year, he said.

At the Really Good Seafood restaurant in downtown Taipei, a plate of stir-fried whale shark with garlic shoots sold for about $12 on Monday, though demand has fallen in recent years because "now more Taiwanese want to protect the environment," said manager Kuo Yaoming.

To make policing the ban on whale shark meat feasible, all of the whale shark meat currently in Taiwan must be sold by June 27. Anyone caught selling whale shark after the date could be fined $4,500 and imprisoned for up to three years.

Taiwan's ban is also likely to stem the sale of whale sharks to aquariums.

While Taiwan may allow future capture of whale sharks to benefit science, "Taiwanese won't be able to sell any whale sharks to aquariums (after this year)," unless keeping the fish in captivity would deepen scientific understanding, said Wu Man-chuan, director of the Fisheries Agency's natural resources department.

The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is awaiting approval from Taiwan's fisheries agency to import two male whale sharks, Taiwanese officials said last week. If the export licenses are granted, the aquarium will have five whale sharks on exhibit in its 6.2-million-gallon Ocean Voyager tank.