SECURITY concerns and erratic weather patterns appear to have reduced shark and ray landings in Sabah in the last five years. The volume of shark and ray catches has dropped by nearly half from 3,431.58 tonnes in 2012 to 1,788.46 last year, said the Sabah Fisheries Department. Assistant director (marine resource management) Lawrence Kissol Jr. said many factors contributed to the decline in shark and ray catches — a blessing for conservationists. He, however, said species listed under Cites could be sold domestically, provided they were not listed under the Fisheries Acts 1985. The sharks are Sphyrna mokarran (great hammerhead shark), Sphyrna zygaena (smooth hammerhead shark), Eusphyra blochii (winghead shark) and the Carcharhinus longimanus (oceanic whitetip shark).

Source: New Strait Times July 31, 2017 03:33 UTC