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<P></B><B>11/01/99</P></B><FONT face="Times New"></FONT><B><FONT size=5>
<P align=center><FONT size=3>Full House votes to stop shark finning
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<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>