More than 60 local and international organisations and 50 scientists have called on the Maldives government to halt plans to re-establish the gulper shark fishery.
An open letter addressed to President Mohamed Muizzu and Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam said the plans would cause "irreversible harm."
"We have carefully reviewed the draft management plan and regulation and concluded that the proposal would provide minimal benefits to a small number of actors while causing irreversible harm to local populations of gulper sharks and to fishers who rely on a healthy ocean for their livelihoods, as well as to the tourism sector that underpins the Maldivian economy," it stated.
During a visit to Haa Dhaal Kulhudhuffushi on August 26, Muizzu announced that the gulper shark fishery will be re-established starting November 1.
The letter noted that gulper sharks are intrinsically vulnerable to overexploitation and that their slow growth and reproductive rates, and the restricted availability of suitable habitats in Maldivian waters, create a population dynamic that cannot sustain fishing pressures.
"The historical record in the Maldives shows a rapid boom-and-bust for this fishery, with collapses occurring within only a few years, and there is no scientific evidence that populations have recovered from the estimated 97 percent decline caused by overfishing in the past," it said.
The letter highlighted that reopening this fishery is both scientifically unsound and contravenes the Fisheries Act.
"The Fisheries Act also requires broad participation by Maldivians in decisions affecting fisheries resources and mandates participatory decision-making, good governance and transparency. It is therefore deeply troubling that the Ministry appears not to have conducted meaningful consultations with key stakeholders, including local tuna fishers, tourism operators, civil society organisations and independent fisheries or shark scientists."
All three gulper shark species present in Maldivian waters are listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the gulper shark is an endangered species. It has now been decided to include the gulper shark in Appendix II of the Convention.
If gulper sharks are listed on CITES Appendix II at the upcoming COP20 meeting in November-December 2025, exports of any gulper shark and their derivatives would require a scientifically grounded Non-Detriment Finding (NDF) as well as catch and trade quotas.
But Adhadhu understands that the Maldives government has not stored the information needed to conduct such a study.
This means that the gulper shark fishery might be forced to stop after a while.
Gulper shark species take over 20 years to reach sexual maturity, meaning they must survive in a changing ecosystem for decades before they can reproduce. The gestation period for a gulper shark is approximately two years.
They are endangered primarily due to a dangerously low reproductive rate and intense fishing pressure.
The gulper shark fishery began in the Maldives in the 1980s. Studies show that the number of sharks decreased by 50 percent in the 10 years since the fishery was introduced. The fishery was banned in 2010. At that time, 38 fishing vessels were involved in the fishery.
