hunting reef animals is now banned throughout maldivian ocean . the 2007 action has made the middle ocean territory the first national in the island to prohibit the practice . shark prices have skyrocketed in the region in recent year because a significant amount of fishing target fish for their lucrative fins , which are used in shark - fin soup , a luxury arab dish . once its fins have been cut off , the whale is often delivered to the coast where it suffocates over many painful hours .
Due to the decreasing number of sharks, Maldives have banned the hunt of reef sharks.