Saving Seafood

Gov. Murphy signs law banning shark fins in New Jersey starting in 2021

January 9, 2020 — Shark fins will be banned in New Jersey next year under a law signed Thursday by Gov. Phil Murphy.

The new law is designed to end the shark fin trade, which kills about 72 million sharks a year, primarily for soup, according to Humane Society International. Shark fin soup is a delicacy in Asia, but the method of making it poses a threat to the fish.

Sharks are caught and their fins are cut off while they are still alive — a practice known as shark finning — before being released back into the water to drown or bleed to death. At least 70 shark species are at risk of extinction because of the practice, according to the advocacy group Wild Aid.

Read the full story from the Trenton Bureau at NorthJersey.com

Shark fin soup may soon be illegal in New Jersey. It’s now up to Murphy.

December 2, 2019 — New Jersey is now one step away from becoming the latest state to outlaw shark fins — a move conservationists say is crucial to help some shark species from going extinct but others warn will unfairly penalize fishermen in the Garden State.

The Democratic-sponsored measure would prohibit the harvesting, sale, trade, distribution, and possession of shark fins in the state.

It’s now up to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to decide whether to it sign it into law after both houses of the Democratic-controlled state Legislature passed the measure.

If he does, New Jersey would become the 13th state to enact such a ban.

Supporters say the goal is to cut down on shark finning, in which fishermen cut off a shark’s fin and dump the animal back into the water while it’s still alive. The shark then dies, often slowly.

According to estimates by the Humane Society of America, 72 million sharks die each year because of the practice.

The fins are often used for shark fin soup, a delicacy in China and other East Asian countries for hundreds of generations. It’s frequently served at banquets and weddings and has long been seen as a symbol of status.

Read the full story at NJ.com

U.S. House Passes Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act

November 25, 2019 — The U.S. House has passed the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, H.R. 737, led by U.S. Reps. Gregorio Sablan (D-NM) and Michael McCaul (R-TX).

The act prohibits the import, export, possession, trade and distribution of shark fins or products containing shark fins, and it was passed by a margin of 310 to 107. U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) also introduced a companion bill that the Senate Commerce Committee has already approved.

The act of shark finning and possession of shark fins aboard a vessel is currently prohibited in U.S. waters under the 2010 Shark Conservation Act, but the law does not stop the domestic trade in their parts.

Read the full story at the Maritime Executive

Dr. David Shiffman talks shark conservation at DC’s Profs and Pints

August 16, 2019 — At Washington DC’s regular Profs and Pints discussion series, shark expert Dr. David Shiffman shared shark facts, while discussing shark conservation and the threats currently faced by sharks. The talk brought a scientific perspective to some of the most debated topics in shark conservation, including managing sustainable shark fisheries and the efficacy of shark fin bans.

A major focus of the talk was on proposals in the U.S. that would ban the sale of legally caught shark fins, a subject of a recent paper co-authored by. Dr. Shiffman. Noting that the practice of shark finning—the removal of fins from sharks at sea—has long been illegal in the United States, and that the U.S. has some of the best managed shark fisheries in the world, Dr. Shiffman is critical of the idea that a ban would be useful for shark conservation.

“Banning a sustainable fishery here does not do anything to stop an unsustainable similar fishery somewhere else,” he said. “If we are not involved in the market we have no way to influence the market directly.”

Instead, the best way for the U.S. to combat unsustainable practices is to serve as a model for good shark management worldwide. A bill introduced in Congress, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, would take this approach, requiring all shark products sold in the U.S. to come from sustainable fisheries, and providing support to improve global shark fishing practices.

Dr. Shiffman also noted during the talk that these unsustainable fishing practices globally are a far greater threat to sharks than shark finning. However, he added that these fisheries can be approved by adopting more sustainable management, and that several shark fisheries, many of which are in the U.S., are already well-managed.

“Sustainable shark fisheries can and do exist,” he said.

Profs and Pints is a regular speaker series that “brings college faculty members into bars, cafés, company offices, and other off-campus venues to share their knowledge.” It regularly hosts events in Washington, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, and Philadelphia.

 

Savannah leads in shark fin exports

August 12, 2019 — For the last five years the port of Savannah has been the U.S. leader in the export of fresh shark fins, a legal but controversial trade item essential for shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy.

Last year, more than 18,000 pounds of shark fins, valued at about $808,000 was exported from Savannah. All of it was shipped to Hong Kong. (While Savannah led in the value of shark fins exported, a larger amount of fins, at nearly 37,000 pounds, was shipped out of Galveston, Texas.)

“Savannah is the No. 1 exporter of shark fins in the United States,” said Cathy Liss, president of the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute. “Georgia plays an unfortunate role in the lucrative, billion-dollar shark fin trade. As long as we continue to provide a marketplace for shark fin products, the United States, including Georgia, will undoubtedly contribute to the destruction of shark populations.”

Read the full story at The Savannah Morning News

Canada becomes first G20 country to ban trade in shark fins

June 20, 2019 — Canada passed a new law banning the import and export of shark fins, which also includes a requirement to rebuild depleted fish populations.

The new Fisheries Act, approved late on Tuesday, was hailed by environmental and conservation groups as a win for the preservation of fish habitats and for the shark population. Canada has become the first G20 country to ban the export and import of shark fins, said Josh Laughren, executive director of Oceana Canada, a private conservation group.

“With all laws, how they’re implemented matters, but there’s no question this has the potential to be transformative for how we manage Canada’s oceans,” Laughren said.

Read the full story at Reuters

Reintroduced Shark Trade Bill Promotes Successful U.S. Conservation Policies at Global Level

Bill incentivizes nations to follow U.S. example of successful management

January 31, 2019 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the Sustainable Shark Alliance:

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House advances global shark conservation by ensuring that all shark and ray products imported into the United States meet the same high ethical and sustainability standards required of American fishermen. The bill has broad support from conservation groups, zoos, aquariums and the fishing industry.  A companion bill is expected soon in the Senate; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a similar bill in the last Congress.

The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2019 (SSFTA), H.R. 788, introduced by Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL), and co-sponsored by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Bill Posey (R-FL), José Serrano (D-NY), among others, creates a transparent certification program for countries seeking to import shark products into the United States, modeled on similar laws that protect sea turtles and marine mammals across the globe. Similar legislation is expected to be introduced in the Senate.

Nations wishing to take advantage of the U.S. market for shark and ray products must prove they have an effective prohibition on the reprehensible and wasteful practice of shark finning, and have shark and ray management policies comparable to those under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Unlike legislation (H.R. 737) from Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-NMI), which bans all trade of shark fins in the United States, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act creates incentives for improving shark conservation globally. The SSFTA punishes bad actors in other parts of the world while allowing responsible fishermen in the U.S. and elsewhere to realize the maximum value of their carefully managed and scientifically limited annual catch.

“Fishing is a long-standing profession and treasured American pastime, and particularly important in Florida,” said Rep. Webster. “Our responsibility is to balance the needs of the industry with conservation. This bill recognizes the sacrifices American fishermen have made to rebuild and sustain our shark populations and calls on others to meet these same high standards.”

“We thank the Congressmen for introducing the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act,” said Tad Mask, regional director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association in Tallahassee, Florida. “The bill promotes shark conservation and the successful model of American shark management, without threatening law-abiding U.S. fishermen.”

“The idea of a fin ban comes as a first step in environmental groups ultimate goal of ending all shark fishing,” said Greg DiDomenico, director of the Garden State Seafood Association. “The same groups pushing Rep. Sablan’s bill are also calling for an end to shark fishing tournaments.  Supporting sensible shark conservation measures, like Rep. Webster’s, should be a common goal of the commercial and recreational fishing communities.”

U.S. shark fisheries are among the best managed in the world. In a paper published last year, Dr. David Shiffman, a Liber Ero Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Simon Fraser University, and Dr. Robert Hueter, Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory, wrote that the U.S. “has some of the most sustainable shark fisheries on Earth” and called the U.S. “a model of successful management.”

Shark finning, the cruel practice of removing a shark’s fins at sea and discarding the rest of the shark, has been banned in the United States with industry support since the 1990s. Currently, when a shark is landed, the fins are left naturally attached.

The Sustainable Shark Alliance has long argued for the importance of obtaining the maximum value by fully utilizing the limited catches U.S. fishermen are allowed. A U.S. ban on the sale of fins deprives coastal communities of much needed income, while mandating waste of a valuable and culturally important resource.

“The answer to the problem of shark finning is not ‘reverse shark finning,’ by destroying the shark fins that are legally harvested,” said the Alliance’s counsel, Shaun Gehan. “It is to stop shark overfishing and waste of much needed shark protein in all the world’s shark fisheries. The SSFTA moves us in that direction.”

Prior versions of the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act have been supported by commercial fishing industry groups, including but not limited to the Garden State Seafood Association, Southeastern Fisheries Association, North Carolina Fisheries Association, Directed Sustainable Fisheries, and Louisiana Shrimp Association; environmental groups, such as the Wildlife Conservation Society; and zoo and aquarium facilities, such as Mote Marine Laboratory, Palm Beach Zoo, SeaWorld, Zoo Miami Foundation and the Florida Aquarium. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has also written in support of approach.

About the Sustainable Shark Alliance
The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) is a coalition of shark fishermen and seafood dealers that advocates for sustainable U.S. shark fisheries and supports well-managed and healthy shark populations. The SSA stands behind U.S. shark fisheries as global leaders in successful shark management and conservation.

MSC to include ghost gear, shark finning, endangered species in standard review

January 25, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)’s board of trustees has confirmed a list of 16 topics that will be reviewed in the next stage of its fisheries standard review.

In addition to the topics to be included in the standard review, the MSC board has approved topics for more immediate public consultation. These include a consultation on shark finning as part of the MSC’s scope requirements in early March 2019, concluding in early 2020.

The full standard review list incorporates feedback received from numerous stakeholders and includes consideration of the MSC’s requirements for ghost gear, low trophic species, shark finning and endangered threatened and protected (ETP) species, it said. It also covers topics relating to the accessibility of the MSC program to small scale, squid, crab and octopus fisheries.

“The next stage in the MSC fisheries standard review will be an in-depth analysis of all topics agreed for review,” said Rupert Howes, MSC CEO. “Over the next year, the MSC will work alongside stakeholders to harness their expertise and experience to identify potential updates to the standard. This is an opportunity for stakeholders to inform the future development of the standard. We encourage anyone with knowledge or an interest in these areas to get in touch.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Fishing crew charged with shark fin trafficking

December 12, 2018 — The owner and officers of a Japanese-flagged fishing vessel were charged in federal court Tuesday with aiding and abetting the trafficking and smuggling of nearly 1,000 shark fins into and out of Hawaii last month.

During a year-long tuna-fishing expedition, the crew of a Japanese fishing boat —the M.V. Kyoshin Maru No. 20 — allegedly harvested fins from about 300 sharks, at least some species of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

One of those species, the oceanic white tip shark, has declined in population by about 80-95 percent across the Pacific Ocean since the mid-1990s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release, the crew cut the shark fins off, “in some instances while the sharks were stunned but still alive, and discarded the finless carcasses into the ocean,” all under the supervision of the captain and at the direction of the ship’s officers.

The illegally-harvested fins were discovered in the luggage of 10 Indonesian nationals, who had been employed as fishermen on the boat. The Indonesian fishermen had been dropped off from the fishing boat at a port in Honolulu and were intending to catch a flight to Jakarta.

Read the full story at The Garden Island