House Votes To End Shark Fin Sales In The U.S.
This week, the U.S. House voted to end the shark fin trade, in which sharks have their fins cut from their bodies and are then dumped back into the waters to drown, be eaten alive by other fish, or just bleed to death.
The fins are then used as the title ingredient in shark fin soup. In some parts of the world, populations of great white, hammerhead, thresher and oceanic whitetip have fallen by 90% in the last 60 years. Worse still they could be wiped out by 2048.
image copyright Jeff Rotman/jeffrotman.com
Members voted 310 to 107 to pass the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, H.R. 737, a bill designed specifically to end all commercial trade in the United States, potentially putting an end to the importing, exporting, trading, distribution and possession of shark fins for commercial purposes - including any products containing shark fins. As many as 73 million sharks are traded globally each year - an average of 200,000 a day. The level of trade decimates some shark populations and is forcing many shark species toward extinction.
Next, the action moves to the Senate, where a third of the members have signed on to a parallel bill, S. 877.
Finning in US waters is already banned by federal law and 13 states and three U.S. territories have passed laws banning or limiting shark fin sales, the US continues to be an end market for shark fins. Shark fin soup is still a popular choice the menus of some restaurants. The United States also serves as a destination for shark fins obtained on the high seas where finning is unregulated, or from countries lacking good policies or enforcement on finning.
What can you do? Write to your member of congress to pressure them to support these important bills and start to save millions of sharks. It doesn’t have to be this way and we have the power to stop this barbaric, unfair and unnecessary treatment of such incredible creatures.
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