Shark Finning Legislation

A PATCHWORK OF PROTECTIONS AT BEST.

Each country with a coastline is responsible for laws and regulations pertaining to fishing in their waters. A number of countries have anti-shark-finning legislation. But even then, many only stipulate that fins must arrive in a 5 per cent ratio of the shark carcasses onboard, and only a few countries demand that sharks arrive in port with fins attached. According to the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, the easiest way to implement a ban is to require that shark carcasses be brought into port with fins attached; the possession of fins alone would be illegal. (Shark meat is considered of low value, due in part to its high content of methylmercury, and as a result is not worth the cost of transporting bulky shark bodies to market.)

Shark finning violates the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and the practice is contrary to the Organization's International Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks.

This year at the CITES Convention of the Parties (CoP) we anticipate the proposals listing shortfin and longfin mako sharks on CITES Appendices will be hard fights and we have been working behind the scenes gathering support for these and other marine species under consideration; including six species of giant guitarfish and 10 species of white-spotted wedgefish. We also will be working to prevent the removal of existing protections for other threatened and endangered species.

In the United States there is an active piece of legislation, H.R.737 - Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019. If enacted into law it will be illegal to buy or sell shark fins in the United States, and further crack down on shark finning. Finning is already illegal in U.S. waters, but eliminating the trade of fins would cut down on finning elsewhere and squash the market in the U.S. Click HERE to see where your senators and representatives stand on this important act, and please speak out if they are not representing your views.

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan

The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi

Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic

Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic

East Timor (Timor-Leste), Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia

Fiji, Finland, France

Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana

Haiti, Hungary

Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy

Jamaica, Japan, Jordan

Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (North), Korea (South), Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan

Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg

Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma)

Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway

Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal

Qatar

Romania, Russia, Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, South Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria

Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu

Uganda, Ukraine, United States (39 states), Uruguay, Uzbekistan

Vanuatu, Vatican City, Vietnam

Yemen

Zambia, Zimbabwe

Only 12 states have placed bans on the shark fin trade.

The following 38 states do NOT have bans on the trade or possession of shark fins: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansa, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Outraged? Write your Congressional representatives today.