U.S. Shark Bill Targets Finning Loopholes

May 7, 2008

Release from: Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News

After the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearings last month, a new shark bill promising to close disturbing loopholes in existing shark fishing regulations has inched a step closer to becoming law.

The bill, entitled The Shark Conservation Act of 2008, specifically addresses the problem of finning, or removal of a shark's fins for shark fin soup, folk remedies and other forms of consumption.

Because of this practice, shark fins are among the world's most valuable fishing products, but the real price is that sharks are further threatened with extinction, since the marine predators usually die once their finless bodies are tossed overboard.

Sharks are also a slow-growing fish, with some species producing few pups, so recovery from over-fishing is next to impossible.

"The Shark Conservation Act of 2008 reestablishes the intended protections for sharks under U.S. law," said Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), who is Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans.

"I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance this timely and important bill," she added.

Existing Loopholes

Bordallo explained that the bill attempts to close at least three loopholes. The first addresses the difficulty of enforcing "fin to carcass" ratios aboard vessels. Under current regulations, many fishermen can collect fins, so long as a comparable weight of shark bodies accompanies them.

"It has proven virtually impossible, however, to determine whether a given set of fins belong to a particular dressed carcass," she said. "As a result, there are reports of fishermen mixing fins and carcasses for maximum profit, continuing to discard less desirable, finned sharks at sea."

The second loophole concerns how other nations address finning. If the new act passes, the Secretary of Congress will be granted the authority to identify and list nations that have not adopted regulations comparable to those established by the United States.

Third, the act would seek to eliminate "an unexpected enforcement loophole" related to the transport of shark fins. This loophole became shockingly evident after a recent decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court "ruled in favor of a U.S. 'cargo' vessel that was found with almost 65,000 pounds of fins aboard, because the court determined it was not a 'fishing' vessel and did not effectively aid in the fishing effort of shark fins," Marselle Alexander-Ozinskas, NOAA Sea Grant fellow and legislative assistant to Bordallo, told Discovery News.

A Step in the Right Direction

Despite the three provisions, Alexander-Ozinskas admitted that the new act "does not include a fins-attached requirement," which would mean that vessels with sharks would have to land with them completely intact. Many shark experts and conservationists have praised the bill, but express reservations that it doesn't go far enough.

Sonja Fordham, a program director at Oceans Conservancy is recommending a requirement that all sharks be brought to land with their fins attached. Nevertheless, she said, "we thank Chairwoman Bordallo for leading this important initiative to improve the status of these valuable, yet vulnerable animals. We urge her colleagues to support the bill and any strengthening amendments."

George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida, echoed Fordham's remarks.

"Passage of the bill would mark a step in the right direction, but the issue is complex," Burgess told Discovery News.

"Finning is an international problem," he added, "and until we get fishing nations around the world to enact laws in their own countries and support international agreements covering the open seas, until we all come together over this issue, shark populations are still going to be hurting."