Those trips led to me becoming entranced and entrenched in the highs and lows of Maldivian conservation. Let’s start with the good. Despite catastrophic coral bleaching events in the last decade, there are reefs throughout the archipelago that are among the finest in the world. Many of these have bounced back faster than expected after bleaching events. The nation is in the process of trying to ban single-use plastics, and is (not surprisingly) one of the most vocal nations when it comes to anthropogenic climate change. 

Destructive fishing practices are tightly regulated, with small scale rod and line fishing the dominant method. And in 2010 the entire economic zone of the Republic was declared a shark sanctuary; the second in the world after Palau, and covering 90,000km2 of the Indian ocean. It is currently illegal to target, catch, trade or land a shark or ray within their sovereign waters. 

Shark sanctuaries are the most practical method of keeping shark species from extinction; particularly if they protect multiple species that are within the sanctuary at key moments in their life cycle. This is certainly true in the Maldives, with over 30 species including scalloped hammerhead, spinner, thresher and Oceanic whitetip finding safe haven. With the world’s biggest manta ray fishery just a hop skip and a jump away in Sri Lanka, the Maldives also offers a meagre thread of hope for mantas. 

The protection has led to the development of some of the best shark dives in the world, including the greatest nurse shark dive, unreal whale shark encounters, manta tornadoes in atolls like Hanifaru, and the relatively new tiger and thresher shark sites in Fuvamulah. Each of these sites are controversial for different reasons, but undeniably follow the simple premise of conservation economics; that of sharks that are worth more to Maldivians alive than dead.

Nevertheless, in 2022 Forbes magazine reported a drop in support for the sanctuary from Indigenous fishermen who perceived the sharks as reducing their catch. It is certainly true that depredation is an issue for some fishermen, although skipjack fishermen using rod and line tend to support the ban as sharks focus tuna at the surface making them easier to catch.

The sanctuary status itself has had wobbles, with senior politicians trying to rescind it in 2021, following economic losses due to the pandemic. International outcry led to the proposals being quietly dropped. And in late August 2024, fisheries minister Ahmed Shyam is calling for a change in fisheries practices, which could include a return to destructive longlining. He aims to decriminalise sharks being picked up as bycatch, providing an inevitable loophole for those who would target them.