One of the conservation efforts for shark species that are included in the IUCN red list (red list) is to encourage Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for Shark Protection, otherwise known as Marine Protected Areas (MPA) for Shark.

The MPA seeks the implementation of controls on shark fishing, especially small sharks and pregnant sharks. Alternative utilization can be non-extractive, such as through marine tourism (snorkling and diving).

In addition to marine tourism schemes, information on species occurrence; species abundance and biomass; sex ratios; and shark behavior are important factors in data collection to support sustainable management of shark species in an area.

In support of MPA for Sharks, WWF also conducts shark data collection at fish landing sites in the MPA area. This seeks to record the types of sharks and rays that may come from direct utilization by fishermen from the MPA area. This can inform whether the sharks and rays caught are target or bycatch and the fishing gear that potentially catches these species, as well as where they are caught.

With the diversion of sharks and rays into the tourism sector, the number of tourists at shark and ray dive sites has increased. This can have an effect on the behavior and occurrence of these creatures. Therefore, it is important for tourists to follow proper guidelines for interacting with the biota.

A tourism carrying capacity assessment for sharks and rays was conducted to support the concept of an MPA for Sharks. This study, better known as carrying capacity, can manage the location of dive sites by limiting the number of tourists diving or snorkling in accordance with the carrying capacity of shark and ray biota at that location. Thus, comfort in traveling can not only be obtained by tourists, but especially to the biota itself.