November 25, 2019 — The following was released by the Garden State Seafood Association:
The Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA) is disappointed with the passage of Assembly Bill A4845/S2905 today, which would prohibit the possession, sale, or trade of legally harvested shark fins in New Jersey.
The U.S. Humane Society and environmental organizations have been pursuing this anti- conservation legislation for many years. The bill prohibits the sale and trade of shark fins under the guise of stopping “shark finning.” The commercial sector and U.S. fisheries passed a law nearly 20 years ago making shark finning and the sale of those fins illegal across the country and in all U.S. territorial waters.
GSSA is certain that existing federal laws prevent any sale of illegal shark fins in New Jersey.
“All this legislation does is to penalize legitimate, hard working fishermen of the state,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of GSSA. “Instead of acknowledging the leadership of our commercial industry, which operates a globally-recognized sustainable shark fishery, those supporting this legislation will penalize New Jersey fishermen, forcing them to discard a natural resource for no purpose.”
“This legislation rewards illegal poachers in underdeveloped and less-regulated nations by removing sustainable harvested fins from the world market,” said Scot Mackey, Legislative Agent for GSSA. “It will only increase the value of the fins these poachers will continue to harvest, while preventing our well-managed and sustainable shark fisheries from utilizing the whole animal.”