Sharks are much more valuable alive than in soup!

Separate studies conducted in the Bahamas, South Africa, Palau, Honduras, Belize, Maldives, and Australia show that revenue from shark diving significantly surpasses potential shark fishing revenue.

Examples and References:

The Maldives:

"The tourism value of each living grey reef shark in the Maldives has been placed at US$33,500 (HK$261,000) each year.This revenue recurs year after year from the same sharks. Shark diving can result in millions of dollars annually in each of the individual local destinations, well beyond the one-time income from shark fishing."
Maldives to ban reef shark fishing by March 2010, The East African

"In Maldives, sharks have a particularly valuable role in the tourism industry, which generates some 30 per cent of the country's GDP. According to surveys, about 30 per cent of tourists visit the Maldives for its underwater marine life, with viewing sharks and manta rays as their top priorities."

The Bahamas:

Shark Diving Overview for the Islands of the Bahamas, Bahamas Diving Association, March 2008:

This unique position creates and fosters a calculated 78 Million dollars plus in economic impact each year on the local economy.

Shark dive tourism in the Bahamas attracts thousands of visitors and generates tons of publicity. It contributes much more to their economy than a dead shark on a fishing boat ever could. A single live shark in healthy habitat like the Bahamas is worth as much as $200,000 (HK$ 1.55 million) in tourism revenue over its lifetime. Whereas the meat from a harvested shark sells for an average of 35 cents per pound (HK$ 2.70), or a little over $50 (HK$389) for 150 pound shark --- ONE TIME.

Palau:

The Times UK, Sept. 26, 2009:

World's first shark sanctuary created by Pacific island of Palau
“Palau is a diving mecca, people come here to see sharks in their natural environment but it’s an experience that is coming increasingly harder and harder to find in the world."

South Africa:

The great white shark cage diving industry in South Africa alone earns over $900,000 (HK$ 7 million) per year in revenue and the tiger shark industry earns $200,000 (HK$ 1.55 million).

"Tiger shark diving was the predominant attraction for 66% of participants in visiting the Aliwal Shoal MPA."

Recreational aspects of the tiger shark diving industry within the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area, South Africa, M. L. DICKEN and S. G. HOSKING.

Australia:

"Each year, the live-aboard dive boats are directly responsible for generating at least AU$16 million worth of income in the Cairns/Port Douglas region [Great Barrier Reef]".

"Interestingly, respondents were willing to pay significantly more for a ‘100% guaranteed’ shark sighting than they were for other species..."

"The results also showed that live-aboard divers travelling to Osprey Reef valued shark sightings more highly than sightings of other wildlife."

The researchers estimated up to 25 per cent or $1375 (HK $10,700) of each visitor's expenditure in Cairns and Port Douglas in far north Queensland went towards the opportunity to see a shark.

Falling Shark Numbers Puts Bite on Tourism -- SHARKS are worth more alive than dead as new research shows the ocean predators draw a healthy chunk of the tourist dollar. 
James Cook University Study, Australian Associated Press, October 20, 2009

Honduras:

Per Peter Wilcox of Shark Legacy Project:

A new shark fishing ban in Honduras was announced on January 5, 2010, helped along by the work of the Shark Legacy Project in Roatan, Honduras. The Shark Legacy Project has defined the value of each shark seen on the dives in Roatan as $1000 per week (HK$ 7800), or $52,000 (HK$405,000) a year, per shark. Given that sharks have life spans 20 or more years, that means that, theoretically, each shark could be worth a million dollars (HK$ 7.8 million) if allowed to live.

Belize:

Rachel Graham 2004:

Value of each live whale shark to tourism was in Belize = $US 2,094,340 (HK$ 16.3 million) per shark, taking into account the average age of sharks.

Mexico:

Can Recreational Diver Surveys Lead to Conservation Action? By Adam D. Baske; Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation MAS Capstone Research 2008: A Case Study of the Revillagigedo Achipelago

Philippines:

Economic Importance of Protecting Whale Sharks, by Brad Norman and James Catlin; Report for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Australia. November 2007.

Whale shark tourism first started in the late 1980s at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia (Colman 1997b), and has since proliferated to at least 20 other locations around the world, including Seychelles; several locations in Mexico, Philippines; Maldives; Belize; Honduras; Mozambique; Kenya; and Djibouti (Norman unpub. data).

It is estimated that up to 100,000 people participate in whale shark tourism activities around the world annually, paying up to US$350 (HK$ 2725) for a single encounter, in turn generating millions of dollars for local economies (Catlin unpub. data).

Whale sharks were legally hunted in the Philippines until protection was introduced in 1998. Whale shark ecotourism soon developed in Donsol, Sorsogon with great success and was subsequently listed as ‘Asia’s Best Animal Encounter’ by Time Asia (Perry 2004).

The whale sharks’ appearance in Donsol has continued to be a benefit to the local economy. Early records show 800 visitors to Donsol in 1998 with a total income of US$10500 (HK$81,800), generated from registration fees and boat rentals. The number of visitors increased to approximately 7200 in 2005, generating an estimated income of US$208,000 (HK $1.62 million). Arevalo (2006) notes that revenues derived from tourism efforts (related to whale sharks) resulted in Donsol being elevated from a fifth class municipality (annual income of US$162000 (HK$ 1.26 million) to a fourth class US$301,000-486,000 (HK$ 2.35 million to HK$ 3.79 million)). This resulted in a shift from Rank 76 in the poverty line amongst the poorest municipalities of the region to a rank of 17 (Arevalo 2006).

In addition, since 2002 more than 300 jobs have been created and in excess of 200 fishermen have gained seasonal employment as a result of whale shark ecotourism.

Swimming with sharks saves lives, by Arwa Damon, CNN, June 7, 2010,

"Eco-tourism has changed everyone's life in Donsol. Alan tells us how he used to have to take on odd jobs -- driving a tricycle taxi, construction work, playing guitar at bars -- to make ends meet. Now he makes six times what he used to, enough money to put his two children through school, even university."