Globally shark populations are on the decline. Sharks are being overfished globally and the high demand for shark fin is threatening many species of sharks with extinction. Join Shark Stewards banning the Sales and Trade of US Shark Fin in 2020.
As of November 20, 2019 the US House has passed HR 737, the US Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act. The counterpart Senate Bill 877 (Booker, D. NJ) is in the Senate but has note been motioned for a vote.
This law will eliminate the US trade of fins from threatened and endangered sharks, sharks finned illegally or in countries without shark finning laws.
ABOUT SHARK FINNING
Shark finning is the unsustainable and inhumane practice of cutting off a shark’s fins, often while the shark is still alive, and discarding the body into the ocean. The fins are used in the luxury shark fin soup and other dishes. Although shark fin itself is tasteless and the flavor of shark fin soup comes from other ingredients, the soup is viewed as a delicacy and status symbol by some Asian cultures and is commonly served at weddings and other special events. Traditionally an expensive dish limited to the nobility, shark fin soup is now widely sold to millions of consumers. As economies grow in Asia, a dish once reserved for the elite is now available to many more consumers, and is in demand in China and other Asian communities around the world, including across the United States. This demand is driving sharks to extinction.
THREATS TO SHARKS AND THE CRUELTY OF FINNING
Although sharks have existed for over 400 million years, in recent decades, many populations have faced steep declines due to rampant exploitation. Their slow reproductive rates make them extremely vulnerable to extinction. The disappearance of these apex predators causes dangerous imbalances in marine ecosystems worldwide. The decline in shark species will inevitably cascade through the food chain, leading to the loss of additional fish populations. As of 2014, 30 percent of sharks and related species (e.g., rays and chimaera) are threatened with extinction. Unless the rising demand for fins is curbed, this percentage will only increase. Each year, fins from up to 73 million sharks enter the global market. Moreover, approximately 50 million sharks die annually as bycatch in unregulated and indiscriminate longline, gillnet, and trawl fisheries. Given the myriad and unsustainable threats that sharks face, we must take action to ensure these animals will remain an integral part of the Earth’s oceans. Eliminating the shark fin trade removes one of the biggest impediments to their continued survival.
In shark fining, typically, sharks are brought aboard fishing vessels alive, their fins are sliced off and they are thrown back into the sea, to suffocate, bleed to death, or be eaten by other animals. The commercial value of shark fins is much higher compared to the meat which can easily spoil unless frozen or treated. By keeping only the fins, fishing vessels can catch other more valuable fish and catch more sharks on a single voyage, making the killing ruthlessly efficient and skewing data on catch.
THE US SHARK FIN TRADE
Although the amount of fins entering into the United States is difficult to estimate, the nation unquestionably plays a major role in the global shark fin trade. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that over 1,000 metric tons of shark fins were imported into the United States in 2007. For the same year, however, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported approximately 29 metric tons imported. The discrepancy between FAO and NOAA figures is due to a number of factors, including lack of oversight, differences in labeling rules, and the fact that the United States only requires shark fins to be labeled as such when the product is dried (wet or freshly cut shark fins, as well as fins on ice, are not necessarily counted). But even though NOAA’s low estimates do not capture the full scope of the problem, it is clear that a staggering number of fins are passing through our borders—and many of these come from countries that have no regulations whatsoever concerning the finning of sharks at sea.
CURRENT SHARK FINNING LEGISLATION in the USA
Growing concerns for shark populations have led legislators in the United States to enact laws to restrict the practice of finning, as well as the possession of shark fins.
In 2000, Congress passed the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, which made it unlawful to possess a shark fin in US waters without a corresponding carcass. Unfortunately, the ban did not require that carcasses be brought ashore with fins attached, relying instead on a fin-to-carcass ratio whereby the total weight of the fins must not exceed a certain percentage of the total weight of the carcasses. This allowed fisherman to flout the law by mixing and matching bodies and fins from various sharks, making enforcement very difficult, since it is nearly impossible for enforcement officials to determine what species fins are from once they are removed from the body. The consensus of scientists, conservationists, and enforcement officials is that the only way to effectively enforce a shark finning ban is to require that if sharks are fished, they must be brought to shore with their fins naturally attached.
Recognizing this loophole, the federal government passed the Shark Conservation Act (SCA) in 2010. This law strengthens the nation’s shark finning ban by requiring fishermen in US waters to bring sharks ashore with fins naturally attached. While the SCA prohibits anyone under US jurisdiction from engaging in finning, consumers have largely turned to international markets for fin imports. Moreover, fins from sharks caught in US waters continue to be sold after they are detached on land, thereby fueling demand for the product.
States With Shark Fin Trade Restrictions
Joined by Florida in 2020, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and three territories American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands all have enacted laws that prohibit shark fin trade outright, making it illegal to sell, trade, or possess shark fins within their borders. Beginning in California, Shark Stewards has been a leader in several states adding the prohibition of shark fin and shark fin products for sale, to make 14 US states with fin prohibitions.
UPDATE- As of September 19, 2020 with the addition of Florida and New Jersey, 14 US states currently have shark fin trade legislation limiting the sale and trade of shark fins in some manner.
In 2016, NOAA published its final rule to implement the SCA’s provisions. It also confirmed that state-level bans are entirely consistent with the aims of—and should not be preempted by—federal law, further cementing the importance the United States places on combatting the inherent cruelty of finning and tackling the shark fin trade head on. During this period a domestic shark fin industry has been developed that is fighting this legislation. Allowing a market for domestic fins without controls will lead to mixing of fins from sharks not included in the fishery, protected or endangered species.
Despite these important federal and state laws, a comprehensive nationwide ban to ensure that the United States does not contribute to the slaughter of threatened and endangered sharks around the world.
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