WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 11, 2008) –
Today, the US House Committee on Natural Resources voted in favor of
H.R. 5741, the Shark Conservation Act of 2008. Introduced by
Subcommittee Chairwoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), the measure will
reinforce the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, which was signed into
law in 2000.
Since the original bill’s passage, the cruel and wasteful practice
of shark finning – whereby the fins of a living shark are removed
and the animal is thrown back in the water to die – has been illegal
in the United States, but enforcement has been hampered by loopholes
in the ban.
Enforcement officials have stated that the only way to truly impose
a shark finning ban is to require that sharks be landed whole, and
an amendment to the Shark Conservation Act introduced by
Representative Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS) contains this mandate. This
key amendment requires that sharks be landed with their fins
naturally attached and was also agreed upon by the committee.
“Personally I don’t like the way and manner in which sharks are
being killed,” Faleomavaega told reporters. “But at least as a
conservation measure…those fins better be on that shark.”
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), an animal advocacy group based
in Washington, D.C., supports this critical and timely modification
to the current US shark finning ban. “We commend the committee for
approving this important bill and giving sharks much-needed
protection,” said AWI President Cathy Liss.
Actress Bo Derek, activist against wildlife trafficking and longtime
AWI spokesperson, also sent a letter to committee members in support
of the bill. “It's very difficult to know how many there are left in
the world. Some studies show that in the past 20 years, they're down
90 percent. They reproduce very slowly,” Derek explained. “I don't
think sharks have a chance unless people just stop eating shark fin
soup.”
While the bill would stop sharks from being finned in the US,
imported shark fins served in the US could still be from finned
sharks. AWI will continue its campaign to contact US restaurants
currently serving the highly controversial “delicacy” of shark-fin
soup, asking that they consider the precarious status of many of the
targeted species and stop selling the dish immediately. A list of
these establishments and a fact sheet on the practice of shark-finning
are available on the AWI website at
www.awionline.org/oceans/Fisheries/Shark_Fin.htm.
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Contact:
Serda Ozbenian, AWI: (703) 836-4300
For over 57 years, the Animal Welfare Institute has been the
leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill to
reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by
humans. To learn more about us, please visit
www.awionline.org.
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