Full Hous Votes

[Bob Endreson]

11/01/99

Full House votes to stop shark finning 


Today in a unanimous voice vote on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C., Congress voted to endorse a ban on the practice of shark finning in all US waters.

What started as a grass roots campaign 18 months ago here in the Hawaii State Legislature with legislation being introduced by Rep. Brian Schatz, has turned into a global debate and scrutiny of the wasteful practice being condoned by the Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council here in Hawaii.

Although the House Concurrent resolution (# 189) does not have the force of law to stop the process, it does give credibility to those here in Hawaii that have been fighting for a immediate ban. Both the Hawaii Fishermen's Foundation and the Hawaii Audubon Society along with the Office of Hawaii Affairs, The Big Island Fishermen's Association, the Environmental Defense Fund, Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund and thousands of others here and around the world can feel a sense of pride that our actions have now been formally supported by Congress.

This resolution is only the first step. Although Congress may decide to draft more legislation to ban shark finning, we are hopeful that after two stern warnings to "stop finning immediately" from the Department of Commerce to the WESPAC Fisheries Council, that the Department of Commerce will soon step in as a result of the Council not taking action. Along with this latest endorsement from Congress, NMFS has the broad based support to take control of shark management in the Western Pacific.

This is a significant event in the course of fisheries management as today's actions by Congress supports the public's call for sound and practical management of all fisheries both here in Hawaii and in all US waters.

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