April 3, 2012 – A measure, sponsored by Republican Christopher “Kip” Bateman of Somerset County, would ban the harvesting of shark fins by New Jersey fishermen.
When I spoke to some activists about the bill, they told me shark populations have been greatly reduced because of the Chinese affinity for shark fin soup. Therefore, we need to ban the shark fin trade in New Jersey, they said.
I headed down the docks to get the perspective from the commercial fishermen. Jim Lovgren, the captain of the trawler Viking, got right to the point: “This is a stupid bill and Bateman is a moron for sponsoring it,” Lovgren said.
Bateman didn’t return my call for comment. But Lovgren feels his livelihood is at stake. Many animal rights activists want to ban fishing, period, he said, and this is just part of a campaign to do so.
Read the complete opinion piece New Jersey Online.