harvesting reef sharks is now ban in maldivian waters . the government decision has made the indian ocean archipelago the first member in the island to halt the practice . shark numbers have plummeted in the country in recently hours because a significant minority of tourists target they for their exotic fins , whose are exploited in shark - fin pudding , a luxury asian dish . once its tails have been cut off , the animal is commonly returned to the sea where it suffocates over multiple frustrating hours .
Due to the decreasing number of sharks, Maldives have banned the hunt of reef sharks.