The video above was recently posted by YouTube user shawkvanray and was apparently shot for WildAid. The video follows Pete Knights as he investigates Indonesia’s dwindling shark populations as a result of overfishing.

As the video illustrates, while the reefs appear to be healthy sharks are few and far between in the area, and larger sharks are almost non-existent. With the shark market drying up, focus is being shifted toward harvesting some of the larger reef fish, as fishermen are forced to move down the food chain.

In related news, WildAid reports that Raja Ampat’s Misool Eco Resort recently expanded its Marine Conservation Area to cover nearly 468 square miles. The newly expanded conservation area prohibits the killing, capturing, and removal of any wildlife.

Ming is quoted as saying, “We have species that need our attention and protection. They are endangered by excessive hunting by humans and deprived of habitats due to human greed.” Along with the television commercial, the basketball star’s image is also appearing on shark conservation billboard in China. Ming has been involved with WildAid in the past and made news in 2006 with his pledge to give up eating shark fin soup. Ming has also appeared in previous conservation PSAs for WildAid, including the one below which focuses on the hunting of elephants.

Hopefully, WildAid will post the new Yao Ming PSA online in the near future, as they generally do an exceptional job with their commercials (except that they tend to rely on the 100 million sharks a year “magic number”).