Sabah will lose tourists to Philippines without shark-finning ban, says state minister

KOTA KINABALU — Continuing his push to ban shark finning in Sabah, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun warned that the Philippines could surpass the state as a tourist destination unless the activity is banned here.

Mr Masidi explained that failure to protect shark species in the state’s waters could make Sabah less attractive for diving, an activity that is currently one of the state’s biggest draws.

“The potential in Southern Philippines for diving is great. They have among the highest marine biodiversity sites which will attract divers but there are security risks there. But Duterte is taking care of that now,” said Mr Masidi, referring to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on Southern Philippines militants.

“If we are not careful, and we do not solve this shark fin issue, we will let our neighbours overtake us,” he said.

He said there was urgent need to find a solution as the diving industry brings in up to RM380 million (S$126.9 million) in tourism receipts every year and 80 per cent of divers expect or hope to see sharks.

Mr Masidi then pointed out that tourism was both a major source of revenue for the state and a source of employment for locals, saying that 90 per cent of workers in the industry were natives.

“Are we going to let the industry that employs so many of our locals be threatened?” he said in his speech during a shark fin awareness dialogue with local businesses here.

The state government has claimed it was powerless to enforce such a ban as the matter came under the purview of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry in Putrajaya.

The minister responsible, Mr Ahmad Shabery Cheek, has deemed a ban to be unnecessary.

On Monday (Oct 24), Mr Masidi stressed that Sabah was simply asking for the Fisheries Act 1985 to be amended in order to classify sharks as a protected species in the state and nowhere else.

“We are not asking for the law to extend to West Malaysia or Sarawak; it’s just a small clause for us,” he said.

Mr Masidi said that he has discussed the issue with Natural Resources and Environment minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, whom he said agreed to consider the matter.

“He said he will look at the provisions of law under his ministry and whether any of it is relevant and applicable towards protection of sharks. So this is one piece of good news,” said Mr Masidi.

The state has designated about two million hectares of its waters within the Tun Sakaran Marine Park in Semporna, Tun Mustapha Marine Park in Kudat and the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park in Kota Kinabalu as shark sanctuaries. MALAY MAIL ONLINE