There is definitely not an over population of sharks. The reality is that sharks are an endangered species globally. The biggest problem is that overfishing, globally, has reduced the yield fishermen are able to catch. This, paired with a reduction in demand for fish in Western countries due to environmental concerns, and globally during Covid-19, due to restaurants being closed, has resulted in smaller catches at lower prices per kg. This has nothing to do with sharks eating catches at all. This is a result of fishermen being unhappy due to lower prices and smaller catches. But at the end of the day, tourism directly and indirectly contributes over 90% of the Maldives economy, and allowing shark fishing again would be viewed very negatively, especially to higher yielding western markets. Add to this the reality that if you kill a shark a small group gets a relatively small amount of money once, while if you keep a shark alive it creates infinite revenue as an attraction, as it will breed and producing more sharks that will create recurring revenue forever.