The Maldives had originally declared a marine protected area, serving as a global model for over a decade. This became history in November 2025, when longline fishing for gulper sharks (Centrophorus granulosus) was once again permitted in Maldivian waters. Gulper sharks inhabit the deep sea, but longlines do not select which animals they catch. Fishers are clearly accepting and capitalizing on this bycatch with high efficiency – finning has resumed. The fins are sliced off the sharks while they are still alive to be sold to the Asian culinary market. Deprived of their fins, the animals are discarded overboard, where most endure a slow, agonizing death. Recently, reports of incidents in the Maldives have been increasing, affecting other shark species as well, such as finned oceanic whitetip sharks.
Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/f1J8_97uu-c?si=MoPSS80yChRNYmyN
Our video was recorded by local marine biologist Aahil Ibrahim on 12 February 2026 off the island of Fuvahmulah (Maldives). It shows a female tiger shark missing her dorsal fins, one pectoral fin, and the lower lobe of her caudal fin – the clean-cut edges clearly indicating that this was not caused by an accident, but by a sharp human blade. Local divers who captured this footage have named her "Fin" and continue to monitor her. Another female tiger shark was documented off Fuvahmulah by local marine biologist Luca Asshauer, who collaborates with ElasmOcean. She was missing her dorsal fin and, like "Fin", the lower lobe of her caudal fin. She has not been sighted since. "Fin" has now survived with this impairment for several months, highlighting the extreme resilience of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier).
It goes without saying that ElasmOcean condemns finning in the strongest possible terms. We call upon the Government of the Maldives (along with law enforcement and the judiciary) to actively and effectively combat this egregious cruelty to animals. Selective longline fishing is a contradiction in terms: any unselective fishery using long lines, dragging countless hooks through the sea, inevitably produces bycatch. This practice frequently violates international agreements such as CITES, and remains fundamentally inhumane and unethical toward marine wildlife.
