Catching sharks and killing them for their fins is still legal in Fiji waters.

There are currently no regulations in place to prohibit people from shark fishing.

Principal Fisheries Officer Offshore, Anare Raiwalui says there is nothing in the Fisheries Act that will hold anyone accountable for this offence.

However Raiwalui says under the Offshore Fisheries Management Decree – which came into effect last month – it is restricted.

But there is no regulation in place to stop people from catching sharks and killing them.

We need a regulation to work with the Decree for it to be effective because right now we only have the Decree but without the regulation. We are working on the regulation now.

The Fisheries Department is yet to reveal when this regulation will be in place.

They are also working on a National Plan for Action for sharks which will see the management and protection of sharks in Fiji waters.