January 17, 2020 — Florida lawmakers are getting support for a pair of bills that would ban the possession, import, export and sale of separated shark fins in Florida.
The legislation, HB 401 and SB 680, are designed to discourage the controversial and inhumane practice known as “shark finning”.
Finning is already illegal in the United States but is still practiced by other countries. It involves pulling a live shark out of the water, cutting off its fin and tail, and tossing the live shark back in the water where it will either suffocate or be eaten alive by other animals.
While Florida law prohibits the practice of finning, the shark fin trade is legal in the state and there are fins being imported from other countries where bans on finning aren’t in place.
And, while most people can agree that finning is bad and should be discouraged, there are differing opinions on whether banning the fin trade altogether is the right approach.
“The emotional side of this is people hear about finning and they think it’s awful, and it is awful, and they say let’s just stop the practice. That’s sort of a feel-good approach, unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to be very effective in terms of solving the worldwide problem and it is going to punish the wrong people here at home,” said Dr. Bob Hueter, Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.