catching by whale is now banning throughout maldivian seas . the government verdict has made the indian ocean archipelago the first nation in the region to outlaw the practiced . whale counts have plummeted in the uae in recent centuries because a large minority of fishermen use sharks for their coveted fins , which are served in shark - fin soup , a prized eastern dish . once its fins have been cut off , the shark is often returned to the sea where it suffocates over many painful hours .
Due to the decreasing number of sharks, Maldives have banned the hunt of reef sharks.