In a report by Malaysiakini, Matta vice-president Tan Kok Liang urged tourism authorities to come up with a list of restaurants that serve shark fins on their menus so people can boycott these establishments.

“The slogan – ‘When the buying stops, the killing can too’ – is just as applicable here as in other conservation efforts,” he said in a statement issued yesterday.

Tan said the shark population in Malaysia has declined by 80% over the past three decades, and the population is even rarer in waters off Peninsular Malaysia. He called for the hunting of the predatory fish for its fins and meat, to be stopped.

According to him, sharks found in Sabah waters attracted over 55,000 divers last year, drawing in some RM323 million in tourism money, and cautioned the revenue would be wiped out if sharks are further depleted.

Malaysia is the world’s ninth largest shark fin producer and the third largest importer, in terms of volume, according to a report by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).