Interesting, as Australia moves to sanction shark fishing in the Great Barrier Reef Heritage Area, the US is actually taking positive steps in the right direction.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
House Panel Passes Bills to Protect Primates and Sharks
WASHINGTON (June 4, 2008) - The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund praised the U.S. House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans for today approving an important measure to crack down on the trade in pet primates and protect the public from these dangerous wild animals, as well as a bill to protect sharks from overfishing and the cruel and wasteful practice of finning.
...details on primate trade....
The subcommittee also approved the Shark Conservation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5741), introduced by Chairwoman Bordallo, which will tighten U.S. regulations to protect sharks from finning and overfishing. Due to the high price and demand for shark fin soup, U.S. and foreign fleets profit from cutting fins off sharks and throwing the mutilated animals back into the ocean to die. The Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 banned this practice, but the method used for enforcement is complex and there is a lot of room for cheating. H.R. 5741 closes a loophole that currently permits a vessel to transport fins that were obtained illegally as long as the sharks were not finned aboard that vessel.
Media Contact: Liz Bergstrom, 301-258-1455, ebergstrom@humanesociety.org
