Today [Thursday, June 22, 2000] Governor Benjamin
Cayetano signed a bill banning shark finning -- cutting off a shark's
fin and throwing it back into the ocean. The House Bill 1947 will
prohibit the landing of any shark fins in the state of Hawaii unless the
shark is landed whole.
According to the Bill, "No person shall knowingly
harvest shark fins from the territorial waters of the State, or land
shark fins in the State, unless the fins were taken from a shark landed
whole in the State."
The legislation also applies to vessels registered in
the State that are fishing outside Hawaii's territorial waters (three
miles from the shore). However, foreign vessels will be allowed to have
shark fins on board their vessels when using ports in Hawaii, but are
prohibited from unloading or shipping fins through the State.
We are very pleased that the Hawaii legislature, and now
the Governor, are ending shark finning in Hawaiian waters despite the
well-funded lobbying efforts of those who profit from shark finning. In
the end, science and sound management prevailed.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of shark fins are
shipped through Hawaii each year -- more than any other state in the
U.S. However, the state of Hawaii has now shown that it is truly
concerned about its marine resources and is taking action to prevent
this wasteful practice that that has decimated shark populations in
other parts of the US and worldwide. Shark fins are the principal
ingredient in shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy that can sell for $100 a
bowl.
Shark finning has been banned in U.S. Atlantic and Gulf
of Mexico waters since 1993, but the practice has skyrocketed in recent
years in the Western Pacific. From 1991 to 1998, the number of sharks
killed solely for their fins increased by an alarming 2500 percent in
waters off Hawaii.
Despite widespread concern among the public,
conservation groups, government officials, fishermen and scientists, the
Western Pacific regional fishery management council has repeatedly
refused to ban the practice. Representatives from the Department of
Commerce (the agency ultimately responsible for U.S. fishing policy)
have testified in support of anti-finning action by Congress.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to
ban shark finning nationwide two weeks ago with a landslide vote of 390
to 1. The bill is now pending consideration in the U.S. Senate. The fate
of the legislation in the Senate is uncertain because key Senate
committee members have not declared their positions and Congress is
operating under an abbreviated schedule.
This is a clear message to the US Congress that the
people of Hawaii support measures to end the wasteful practice of shark
finning. The U.S. Senate should move quickly to pass a nationwide shark
finning ban that covers all U.S. waters.
Go on to Job
Opportunity
Return to 25 June 2000 Issue
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