| Palauan President's address to the UN and the Shark Sanctuary |
| Saturday, 26 September 2009 10:29 |
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Below is the statement included in the address to the United Nations presented by President Johnson Toribiong of Palau, September 25, 2009:
(After discussing Palau's ban on bottom trawling, President Toribiong continues:) "An equally destructive fishing practice is shark-finning. We have banned it in Palau and call upon the world to address this issue in order to save the sharks from extinction. "The strength and beauty of sharks are a natural barometer for the health of our oceans. Therefore, I declare today that Palau will become the world's first national shark sanctuary, ending all commercial shark fishing in our waters and giving a sanctuary for sharks to live and reproduce unmolested in our 237,000 square miles of ocean. We call upon all nations to join us."
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