A new study spearheaded by academics at the University of British Columbia could be a blow to the global trade in shark fin as it suggests the animals can generate more money in the water as tourist attractions rather than as food product.
In the paper Global Economic Value of Shark Eco-tourism: Implications for Conservation, the scholars say that 590,000 dedicated shark watchers worldwide collectively spend about 314 million U.S. dollar annually in a tourism sector that supports around 10,000 jobs in such places as the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and the Philippines, among others.
Read the full article from Xinhua News.