[Coral-List] Follow-up overfishing of pelagic sharks around Palau - record settlement

[Crawdaddy Hale]

Dear Coral List:
 
[As a bit of background, Palau banned commercial shark fishing and sharkfinning in 2003.]
 
I wanted to thank everyone that replied to my earlier inquiry regarding the link between overfishing for sharks and the health of coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific.  
 
Although I am still collecting information and am still looking for a paper that demonstrates a tight link between the two, I have to say that the background shark biology/ecology and fisheries information that was sent to me was extremely helpful in recent settlement negotiations with a sharkfinning captain.
 
We were able to obtain a record settlement for Palau, 371% higher than the prior record.  
 
If you are interested, here is a link to an article from Pacific Magazine.
 
http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2007/11/24/185k-plea-agreement-largest-shark-fin-penalty-in-palau-history
 
Best regards,
 
Christopher L. Hale
Assistant Attorney General
Republic of Palau