The Dorsal Fin

Discovery Networks recently uploaded the video above to their YouTube channel which focuses on recently passed legislation in Chile, Honduras, and the Bahamas that helps to protect sharks within those countries’ waters. Honduras and the Bahamas have recently banned commercial fishing making their waters a “shark sanctuary,” while Chile has banned the practice of shark finning.

Discovery News is reporting that the Chilean National Congress voted unanimously in favor of passing a bill that would ban the practice of shark on 30 species of sharks found in Chile’s coastal waters. The law does not prohibit shark fishing, but it does require that any sharks be landed whole and requires that harvested sharks remain whole “all the way to the market,” according to Discovery News.

For more information, check out the full article on the Chilean shark finning ban at Discovery News.

A bill will be signed into law today declaring Honduran waters a sanctuary for sharks.

According to the New York Times, Honduran president Porfirio Lobo Sosa will sign a bill into law today that will establish a permanent moratorium on commercial shark fishing in Honduran waters. The new law will affect 92,665 square miles off of the Honduran coast (including both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts).

The Times reports that the bill will be signed on the island of Roatan, one of Honduras’ most popular diving destinations.

Renowned marine life artist Guy Harvey is encouraging fellow fishermen to join him in promoting shark conservation through the Shark Free Marina Initiative. The program designates members as either shark-free or shark-friendly (catch and release only). In addition to marinas, charters, bait and tackle shops, and restaurants are encouraged to join the initiative.

Members of the Shark Free Marinas Initiative receive free advertising, educational literature about sharks, and signs featuring the artwork of Guy Harvey.

Thanks to Shark Diver’s Underwater Thrills blog for the heads-up on this video.

XOOC, a non-profit marine conservation group based in Mexico, produced the video above, which focuses on the bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) of Mexico’s Playa del Carmen.

Last fall, dozens of Playa’s bull sharks were killed by a local fisherman, who was paid 118,000 pesos (roughly $10,000 USD) for the sharks, according the video. The video also goes on to note that living sharks can bring in up to $300,000 USD dollars in tourism revenue per season. However, the fisherman who caught the sharks, argued that it was more profitable for him to catch and sell the sharks, since it was less dangerous and only required 4 hours of work.

Playa del Carmen had become a popular dive site in recent years and was known as one of the hot spots for diving with bull sharks.

(Note: This video showed up on YouTube yesterday, but was originally posted on Vimeo several months ago.)