Tag Archives: Shark Fin Ban

House passes shark fin ban with carveout for domestic fishermen by Rep. Toby Overdorf amendment

The House passed the Senate version of a bill (SB 680), which outlaws the import and export of fins to or from Florida. Rep. Toby Overdorf offered an amendment essentially gutting the bill,, The amendment permits the “sale of shark fins by any commercial fisherman who harvested sharks from a vessel holding a valid federal shark fishing permit on January 1, 2020. The export and sale of shark fins by any wholesale dealer holding a valid federal Atlantic shark dealer permit on January 1, 2020.” more,  >click to read< 16:24

Shark fin ban ready for Senate floor

The Senate Rules Committee passed the bill (SB 680), which outlaws the import and export of fins to or from Florida. Jerry Sansom of the Organized Fishermen of Florida said Florida has more fisherman than any other state licensed by the federal government to participate in the heavily regulated and fully sustainable practice of capturing sharks. He noted a sunset on the finning ban in 2025 he says signals legitimate concern about the commercial future of those fishermen. “I don’t remember when the Florida Senate has put an expiration date on an industry before they made us come back and get a pardon,” >click to read< 14:46

Selling shark fins is now banned in Rhode Island.

A law took effect Sunday that makes it a crime to own or sell a shark fin unless it’s used for scientific research or in preparing a shark for ordinary consumption. Rhode Island became the 11th state to ban shark fin sales when Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed legislation into law in June. Hawaii was the first in 2010. Shark fin soup is popular in Chinese cuisine but animal rights activists say the practice of slicing off a shark’s fin and leaving the fish to die is cruel. The Humane Society of the United States says the laws will help global shark populations recover. The ban is one of several state laws taking effect on the first day of the year. This is a law of waste. There is nothing conservative about throwing legal shark fins into the landfill.Link 20:21

The Shark Fin Ban That Should Be Banned – Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016

li-nb-dead-sharks-620In the five seconds it takes to read this sentence, an estimated 16 sharks around the world have been killed. If you read on to the end of the article, that number will have risen to about 770. Every year, fishers haul up to 73 million sharks onto boats across the world’s oceans and trim their fins. In many cases, the rest of the body is thrown overboard to swim without propulsion. And without propulsion, no life-giving water flows over the sharks’ gills. They drown. This is shark finning, a cruel practice that feeds the demand for the Chinese delicacy of shark fin or fish wing soup. From boat to bowl, it is tasteless. To curb the death toll, the US Congress plans to introduce the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016. If passed, to sell or possess shark fins would be a punishable offense. It’s the ultimate protection from being made into soup. Strange, then, that people who dedicate their lives to protecting sharks are vehemently opposed to the bill. In a letter to Senator Bill Nelson, Rob Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, outlines his objections. At best, it’s unnecessary, he says. At worst, it harms rather than helps shark populations. Read the story here 09:46