Maldives Government to impose ban on trade and export of sharks and shark products

The cabinet in its meeting today has decided to ban trade and export of sharks and shark products. The ban will come into effect on 1 July 2010. Today’s cabinet meeting was chaired by Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

In their meeting on 23 February, the cabinet had discussed on the decision to impose a total ban on shark hunting by 1 March 2010. It was decided on that meeting that a paper on this matter should be submitted to the cabinet within 14 days.

At today’s meeting the cabinet deliberated on the paper submitted, and decided to enforce the decision on banning shark hunting in the Maldives beginning from 1 March 2010. It was also decided that the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture would assist shark fishermen to find alternative livelihood.

At today’s meeting, the cabinet also decided that the Maldives would ratify the Agreement on the Establishment of South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (SARSO).

One of the key objectives of this agreement is to develop harmonized standards for the region to facilitate intra-regional trade.

The members noted that with the ratification of this agreement, consumer confidence on Maldivian local products will improve and that the Maldives would benefit from SARSO assistance in formulation national standards.

From the site: http://www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv

Manta Rays of the Maldives - A presentation by Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler

Anne-Marie has individually identified over 1800 mantas and estimate there may be as many as 25000 mantas throughout the Maldives. Her research on migration activity by mantas within the Maldives was presented to the American Elasmobranch Society Devil Ray Symposium in July 2008 which was the largest meeting of manta specialists ever held.

Manta ray is the new official common name for the species of manta we see in the Maldives. The bigger ones that occasionally pass through the Maldives are the Giant Mantas.

This presentation also features an explanation on how mantas evolved from sharks and how their anatomies compare.

Anne-Marie has individually identified over 1800 mantas and estimate there may be as many as 25000 mantas throughout the Maldives. Her research on migration activity by mantas within the Maldives was presented to the American Elasmobranch Society Devil Ray Symposium in July 2008 which was the largest meeting of manta specialists ever held.

Manta ray is the new official common name for the species of manta we see in the Maldives. The bigger ones that occasionally pass through the Maldives are the Giant Mantas.

This presentation also features an explanation on how mantas evolved from sharks and how their anatomies compare.

Location: Hiriyaa School, Maafannu
Date: 14 March 2010
Time: 2000 hrs – 2130 hrs

This event is organised by Maldives Science Society together with Aqua Dreams Imaging.

Article published in Asian Geo Passport Magazine

An article that Mafu from ADI wrote and photos from Shaff have been published in the December 2009 issue of Asian Geo Passport magazine. You can download the article from the link below:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34532&st=0&gopid=241648&#entry241648

Video featured in DivePhotoGuide.com

One of our videos from Baa Atoll Hanifaru have been featured in an article in the website www.divephotoguide.com. The link to the article is below:

http://www.divephotoguide.com/articles/hanifaru_bay_maldives_manta_madness

5 Day Dive Underwater Photo & Video Shoot

Our friend MTV Vj Nikhil arrived in the Maldives once again after almost 1 and half years to do a 5 day underwater photo and video shoot in association with Faunu Travels. The dives were amazing and the fun began as soon as he set foot on Male'.

Day 1

‘Not Kikki Reef’: The first dive of the trip for Nikhil to get used to being underwater again. The currents were not so bad. Nice drift. Managed to take a few good photos.

Day 2

‘MV Maldive Victory’: This was a dive that I don’t think Nikhil will forget nor will Siku. The currents were ripping when we jumped in. The visibility was not so good as well, but we managed to take some amazing photos on the wreck. The video of the shoot has been uploaded in youtube. The fun part was the safety stop at 5m!

Day 3

‘Banana Reef’: What can I say about Banana Reef? It’s always good to dive this site whether its good or bad visibility. Amazing fish life!

‘Nassimo Thila’: Visibility was not that good but the dive turned out really well. The reef was full of colourful soft corals and lots of fish. We ended up with a 31 minute deco-stop in the end! But it was well worth it!

Nazma, Beybe, Raxan, Miru and Sheri joined the team on this day of diving. Sheri, Raxan and Miru did their Discovery dive during the break between the dives. And also some breathtaking aerial acrobat demonstration was given by Riya, Beybe and Raxan.

Day 4: The MJ Tribute Dives

‘Bandos Rocks’: I don’t think we have seen so many glassfish and baitfish on the reef anywhere else. The whole reef was covered by them. Once they surround you, you can’t see more than a few inches front of you. It was amazing to see the tunas, jacks and dogtooths slamming into the wall of fish in a feeding frenzy. A few of the divers who joined us on this day paid their tribute to MJ by wearing one white glove. At about 38m (Yep! We love going deep!) Siku found a really old Nikonos IV 1983 version camera.

‘Maagiri’: Just an easy dive to relax and take some macro photos. The visibility was very poor during this dive. At the end of the dive we had a small Hawksbill Turtle come up and say hi to us. Too bad we had the macro lenses on the cameras during this dive.

‘Bandos House Reef’: The third and final dive of the day was done at Bandos House Reef to take more macro photos. The reef was full of life. The corals are very healthy and fish everywhere. Black-Tip Reef Sharks was seen hunting the school of Blue-Striped Snappers.

The MJ tribute dives were joined by Niyad, Hassu, Hassu Bro, Hasy, Hiyaa, Poppy & Muthu.

Day 5

‘Kuda Giri Wreck’: One of the best wreck dives we have done. The nice thing about this dive is that after you finish diving the wreck you can swim over to the reef and continue on. The reef has a lot of swim-throughs and caverns. We got some great photos at the wreck and also while finishing the dive on the reef.

‘Embudhu Cathedral’: On our way to this site we spotted a big pod of Dolphins and stopped the boat to try and snorkel with them. We had the best visibility we ever had during the last 4 days of diving on this dive. The current was mild and it was an easy and relaxing drift. Stopping every few minutes when Shaff stopped to take photos.

The 5 days of diving for the underwater shoot would not have been possible if not for the help from our friend Riya from Faunu Travels (who is also a member of the ADI Team) and also Murad from Bandos Island Resort.

Thailand Travel & Dive Expo 2009

Attending the TDEX 2009 in Thailand was a big step for ADI this year. Met with a lot of dive operators as well as dive magazine publishers. Ben from Blue Label Diving joined me and helped me out a lot. I hope that this year is going to turn out to be a good year for ADI and also for Blue Label Diving.

Shark Fisheries Banned in the Maldives

The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has imposed a ban on shark fisheries from all the atolls of the Maldives. The ban will be on all shark fisheries within a 12 nautical mile radius. Previously the ban was on imposed on 7 atolls. This is good move after tremendous efforts by various parties and individuals. 

Juvenile Black-Tip Reef Shark fished in Baa Atoll                (Photo: Shaff)

The Ministry has set a target of one year to ban all shark fisheries including oceanic sharks and the export of all shark products. The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture said that "The fishery law clearly tells us that we can protect any marine species if we feel that it's threatened or endangered for any reason. We have taken very strong action against the protection of sharks simply because they were protected worldwide and are very important for tourism."

Juvenile Black-Tip Reef Sharks fished in Baa Atoll         (Photos: Shaff)

It will be a difficult task to enforce the ban, but the ministry says that the responsibility to enforce will have to be shared by the atoll offices, the police and the ministry.

An attempted finning on a live Whale Shark in Ari Atoll      (Photo: Mohamed Faizan Waheed)

According to the Secretary General of Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), the effect of the ban on the tourism industry would be 'tremendous' as 30 percent of the tourists visit the Maldives for it's underwater life and in addition to Manta Rays, Sharks would be their number one priority.

A Grey Reef Shark at Maaya Thila, Ari Atoll     (Photo: Shaff)