the Union ministry of environment and forests has banned the killing of whale sharks ( Rhincodon typus ), making them the first species of fish to be protected under the Wildlife Protection Act. Now, killing of whale sharks would be a punishable offence carrying a minimum imprisonment of one year.

Whale sharks are slaughtered on a large-scale for their meat when they migrate during the summer months to the western coasts of India. This fact was highlighted in a documentary Shores of silence: whale sharks in India made by Mike Pandey, a filmmaker (see