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Congressional Action on Animal Legislation Before our federal legislators escaped from Washington for their August recess, significant action was taken on three animal protection bills: the Great Ape Conservation Act, the Bear Protection Act and the Shark Finning Prohibition Act. On July 25th, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to
pass the Great Ape Congressman Miller called the depletion of great ape populations “an ecological and moral tragedy.” He said the bill “would be one significant step in the effort to avoid the permanent loss of great apes and the environment in which they live.” Senate action on the bill is expected in September. The Senate has begun moving another vital bill, the Bear Protection Act (S.1109). Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) authored the legislation, which bans the import, export, and interstate commerce in bear viscera such as the gallbladder and bile. On July 26th, the bill was approved by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and now awaits consideration by the full Senate. The Chairman of the Committee, Bob Smith (R-NH), and twelve other Committee Members are cosponsors of the bill. At the bill’s mark-up, Chairman Smith refuted arguments that the bill should be weakened to deal only with the import and export of bear parts, not interstate commerce. Smith said that any amendment to remove the domestic provision would “gut” the bill. He noted that hundreds of bears are poached for their gallbladders across America and that the current inconsistency in state laws facilitates laundering and illegal sale of bear parts. The Bear Protection Act, which has a total of 67 Senate cosponsors—more than any other pending animal protection bill—now awaits a vote by the full Senate. A companion bill (H.R. 2166) introduced in the House of Representatives by John Porter (R-IL) languishes in three House Committees and has yet to see any positive movement. Lastly, by an overwhelming vote of 390–1, the House of Representatives passed the Shark Finning Prohibition Act on June 6, 2000, a bill to prohibit the viciously inhumane practice of slicing off a shark’s fins while the conscious shark struggles in pain. The bill now awaits action in the Senate.
Helping lead the international campaign to ban this horrific practice, campaigner Susie Watts notes The trade in shark fins exists primarily to supply the high Asian demand for expensive shark fin soups where a single bowl in Hong Kong or Taiwan could fetch US $100. The fins are ultimately processed and sold dried, frozen, or canned. According to the conservation organization WildAid, “Experts agree that an estimate of 100 million sharks and shark-like fish caught around the world annually is not unreasonable.” Top Photo, This brown bear mother and cub were photographed by AWI's Executive Director, Cathy Liss on a recent trip to Alaska. Bottom Photo, Sunken remains of a dismembered shark. (Mark Strickland)
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Conservation Act (H.R. 4320). The bill,
introduced by Congressman George Miller (D-CA), establishes a Great
Ape Conservation Fund of five million dollars to support conservation
programs for gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, chimpanzees, and gibbons.
Habitat destruction by unscrupulous logging company profiteers and the
trade in bushmeat increasingly threaten endangered species.
that when fishermen catch sharks
while fishing for other bounty such as tuna or swordfish, “they keep the
fins and throw away the rest of the body, reserving space in the hold for
the more valuable fish.” Watts continues: “these sharks are frequently
‘finned’ while still alive and are then thrown back into the water to
be eaten by other fish, starve, or bleed to death.”
