A recent study showed sharks that are alive and free make more money in tourism than the ones used to make soup Latinos Post reported.
About 38 million sharks are caught every year and used in shark fin soup, the majority are in China.
Andres Cisneros-Montemayor from the University of British Columbia in Canada, who led the study, claimed shark watching generates $314 million a year in revenue and should increase to $780 million over the next 20 years. According to the study, fisheries only make about $630 a year. Tourism revenue is increasing but the amount of money fisheries make is projected to decrease over the next few decades, Reuters reported.
Shark watching brings in about 600,000 people every year who keep about 10,000 people in 29 countries employed.
"We are hoping that people will recognize that sharks are not only valuable on the plate," said Cisneros-Montemayor, who advocates the protection of sharks.
The Bahamas, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, the Cook Islands, Palau, Honduras, Tokelau, French Polynesia and New Caledonia have all created shark sanctuaries over the past few years.
"Many countries have a significant financial incentive to conserve sharks and the places where they live," said Jill Hepp, director of global shark conservation at the Pew Charitable Trusts that also participated in the study.
Pew is an active public activist for more sanctuaries for sharks and shark protection.
Fisheries are suffering globally; the study stated that this is due to the factors such as "environmental pollution, destructive climatic shifts and over-fishing."
Conservationists believe that the shark fishing industry needs to directly see the increased profit that comes with leaving the sharks in the ocean.
Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of the global marine program at the International Union for Conservation of Nature who was not involved in the study suggests having the fishey workers switch over to the shark watching industry and making profits by renting out scuba gear, giving boat tours, and other things related to tourism.
The real challenge will be getting Asia to abandon shark fin soup, which has a great deal of cultural importance and is widely popular.
