Nebraska Shark Fin Trade Bill

Senator Jeremy Nordquist

Even though the state of Nebraska is a landlocked state of the USA, there is a push to ban the shark fin trade.  L.B. 921, introduced by Senator Jeremy Nordquist (Non-partisan 10), would outlaw the commercialization and ownership of shark fins.

Students from the ZooAcademy are supporting the billcurrently before the Legislature.“By the time I finish this sentence, more sharks will have been killed than will kill humans in an entire year,” said Brett Homee, from the ZooAcademy.Although there are no sharks around Nebraska, the students said they have found shark fin products on store shelves in Omaha.

“By prohibiting these products our state is sending the message that we don't want to engage in any way in such cruel practices that indefinitely harm an ecosystem that benefits us all,” Dean Hollist, another bill supporter.If the bill passes, it would make it a misdemeanor to possess, sell, trade or distribute shark fins or products containing shark fin in Nebraska.

Here is the text of the bill:

 LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA

ONE HUNDRED THIRD LEGISLATURE

SECOND SESSION

LEGISLATIVE BILL 921

Introduced by Nordquist, 7; Ashford, 20; Crawford, 45; Harr, 8; Mello, 5.

Read first time January 15, 2014

Committee: Judiciary

 A  BILL

 1     FOR AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; to amend section 28-101,

2     Revised Statutes Supplement, 2013; to prohibit the

3     possession, sale, offer for sale, trade, or distribution

4     of shark fins as prescribed; to define terms; to provide

5     a penalty; to harmonize provisions; and to repeal the

6     original section.

7     Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,

LB 921 LB 921

1         Section 1. Section 28-101, Revised Statutes Supplement,

2         2013, is amended to read:

3         28-101 Sections 28-101 to 28-1356 and section 2 of this

4         act shall be known and may be cited as the Nebraska Criminal Code.

5         Sec. 2. (1) Beginning July 31, 2014, no person shall

6         possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin or

7         any product containing shark fin.

8         (2) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of

9         a Class V misdemeanor.

10        (3) This section does not apply to any zoo or aquarium

11        accredited by the Association of Zoos or Aquariums or any accredited

12        museum that possesses, sells, trades, or distributes shark fins for

13        educational purposes or zoological or other scientific  study.

14        (4) For purposes of this section:

15        (a) Shark means any species of the subclass

16        elasmobranchii; and

17        (b) Shark fin means a raw, dried, or otherwise processed

18        detached fin or raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached tail of a

19        shark.

20        Sec. 3. Original section 28-101, Revised Statutes

21        Supplement, 2013, is repealed.