The Fisheries department in the Marshall Islands is working on legislation to regulate the trade of shark fin and sea cucumber.
The Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority placed a ban on the two marine products this week until new procedures are in place to regulate them effectively.
Our correspondent Giff Johnson says people have been violating the regulations for sometime and authorities are worried the marine resources would diminish if nothing is done about it.
"Without any controls on it, it's really obvious to see that a company could come into an isolated atoll, offer a few thousand dollars to local government or to land owners and just pillage the lagoon in such a way that the resource is gone."
Giff Johnson says the fisheries department is hoping to complete draft legislation on shark fishing by August and will be discussing a plan of action on sea cucumber in the next weeks.
