WASHINGTON — The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society International and the Humane Society Legislative Fund applaud President Barack Obama for signing an important bipartisan bill that will increase protection for sharks from the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning – cutting the fins off a shark and tossing the mutilated live animal back into the ocean to die.
The Shark Conservation Act – introduced by Reps. Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, Eni Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. – requires that sharks be landed with their fins still naturally attached, the only sure way to enforce a ban on finning. H.R. 81 will strengthen the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 that has been difficult to enforce, closing a loophole in that law that unintentionally allowed vessels to transport fins obtained illegally as long as the sharks were not finned aboard that vessel. Many fisheries target sharks for their valuable fins, which are sold for shark fin soup.
“Cutting off sharks’ fins and tossing their live bodies back into the sea is terribly cruel. It’s also a major factor in the severe decline of sharks worldwide and the associated devastating impact on other species in the ocean ecosystem,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. “Up to 73 million sharks are killed this way each year, just for shark fin soup. The Shark Conservation Act will make the U.S. ban on shark finning more enforceable and strengthen our hand in international negotiations. We thank President Obama for taking this important step forward in conservation and animal protection.”
Along with praising President Obama and the legislation’s prime sponsors, the groups extend their thanks to Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Ranking Republican Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, whose leadership on the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation were instrumental in guiding the bill to Senate passage. The groups also thank House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings, R-Wash., and Subcommittee Ranking Member Henry Brown, R-S.C., who worked with Subcommittee Chairwoman Bordallo to bring the bill forward in the House, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who helped ensure timely approval of this legislation before Congress adjourned, and other Senate cosponsors of the bill including Sen. David Vitter, R-La.
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