Sabah repeats call to end shark hunting

PETALING JAYA: Sabah has repeated its call to the Federal Government to end shark hunting there, as a tourism group here called for a boycott on shark fin.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said his office asked for an amendment to the law that would stop shark hunting in Sabah five years ago.

“The federal authority responded to say that it was not agreeable to the proposal.

“Their excuse is that there is no shark hunting or finning industry,” he said, calling it a “rather lame excuse”.

Masidi said sharks were essential in Sabah’s tourism industry, adding that most of the state’s 55,000 diving visitors each year wanted to see sharks.

He said 80% of the shark population in Sabah has been killed for their fins and the authority was worried that they would become extinct.

On Tuesday, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents said it would not work with restaurant that served shark fin soup.