On Tuesday, the Bahamas announced a ban on shark fishing in the nation’s 243,244 square miles of territorial waters. The move is partly motivated by tourism: The island is rich in tiger and hammerhead sharks, and has become a hot spot for diving and . The Bahamas is the latest in a series of nations to ban shark fishing, following the lead of last week, in 2010, and , Micronesia in 2009. Worldwide, there are now 926,645 square miles of shark sanctuary. Shark fishing bans are also under consideration in several U.S. cities and states, including and, Florida. The practice of shark finningin which sharks are caught, stripped of their fins, and dumped back in the ocean to dieis already prohibited in U.S. waters, but shark fishers can still take fins provided the rest of the carcass is used. Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington have enacted laws prohibiting the removal of fins, and the is debating a similar measure.
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