Whale sharks have been listed as a protected species in the Maldives.

This was announced by the President’s Office on Tuesday.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih reached the decision following a meeting convened with his Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday.

The decision to declare whale sharks a protected species under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act, was based on deliberations on a paper presented at the cabinet meeting.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified whale sharks as an endangered species on its red list as of July 2016.

Previously, whale sharks were designated as a protected species under the Fisheries Act of the Maldives.

The paper proposed that the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act of Maldives would provide the most effective framework for the conservation and management of whale sharks instead, following the observation that the Maldivian fishing industry nor fishing industries worldwide regarded whale sharks as a viable fishery species.

Further, the paper went on to highlight that the conservation challenges of Maldives for whale sharks and their ecosystem.

Highlighting how the conservation and management of whale sharks under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act would safeguard the habitat of the species and overcome conservation obstacles, the paper also noted prospective environmental, social, and economic benefits.