Give Shark Sanctuaries a Chance

摘要

Several developing nations have estab-lished shark sanctuaries, most commonly in the form of a moratorium on both commercial shark fishing and the export of shark products in exclusive economic zones (1). in her letter "shark sanctuaries: substance or spin?" (21 december 2012, p. 1538), l. n. k. davidson raises concerns that this ambitious strategy might be doomed to exist only on paper and could discourage investments in other types of shark fisheries management. we agree that enforcement will determine whether these shark sanctuaries live up to their promise, as is true of any new management regime. we dis-agree, however, with the argument that shark sanctuaries are more challenging to enforce or are less likely to be successful than typical fisheries management strategies, especially considering that even basic information such as fishery catch is often unknown and under-estimated in developing countries (2).