Himaayathuge Himaayathugaa – Defending Protection
On 14 February 2026, Save Maldives campaign released its latest short video documentary entitled Himaayathuge Himaayathugaa (or Defending Protection). We extend our thanks to friends and colleagues who attended the event held in Male’. We are grateful for the artistic and creative efforts of the documentary production team including Ali Nash’ath and Ahmed Mohamed Imad. Our immense gratitude goes to fishers from the Kulhudhuffushi community and others who gave their time and insights that enrich this production.
Since 2010, the Maldives has been recognised as one of 17 shark sanctuaries in the world. However, this status was jeopardized by government policy in August 2025, to open a fishery targeting deep-sea Gulper sharks in the country. The most disturbing aspect of this policy regression is that Gulper sharks are an endangered species globally. The 3 recorded species of Gulper shark in the Maldives are listed in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of globally threatened species. This is the first time in the history of Maldives that a government has made policy to target a globally endangered species for exploitation.
Available scientific data tells us that due to the country’s historical shark fishery, sharks living in multiple habitats across the Maldives faced population decline. None as devastatingly as the Gulper shark. According to available research, the Maldives Gulper shark population declined by a staggering 97% due to intensive exploitation between the 1960s and the 1990s. Gulper shark biology tells us that this marine animal has a long lifespan reaching reproductive age around 28+ years. These facts, among others, inform us that the 15-year shark fishing ban in the country is woefully inadequate to revive the population. Such technical details are known to, but completely disregarded, by the Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources, which formalized the Gulper Shark Fishery Management Plan and Gulper Shark Fishery Regulation on 31 October 2025.
The government’s decision to target Gulper shark for fishery exploitation is in direct contravention to Constitutional safeguards to protect the living environment and biodiversity of the Maldives, among other such national and international legal obligations. Article 22 of the Constitution obligates a fundamental duty on the State to protect the living environment for present and future generations. This article puts specific emphasis on preventing the extinction of any species. For this reason alone, President Mohamed Muizzu’s decision to initiate Gulper shark fishery in the Maldives raises serious questions about the legality of this action. Further, such a move indicates the willingness of the government to expose a species to the risk of extinction, in contravention to the law.
Himaayathuge Himaayathugaa constitutes a deep dive into the issue of Gulper shark fishery policy, providing the public with a big picture view covering various elements of the issue. There is no doubt that this arbitrary policy move is entirely regressive and seriously disturbing. It further degrades environmental protections that are consistently undermined by policies harmful to the environment, and the perennial failure to implement protection laws. Moreover, it is evident that there is no clarity as for whose benefit this regressive policy is made. It is certainly not in the public interest, which raises a host of questions that require answers.
