Update on bills to ban shark fins |
Geschrieben von: Shark Savers | ||||
Dienstag, den 01. März 2011 um 13:55 Uhr | ||||
From one side of the Pacific to another, there are bills to ban the trade in shark fins. Many of these bills are inspired by the ground-breaking Hawaii law, but they all have their local flavors and have met with different kinds of resistance and amendments.
Guam Bill 44-31 to ban the trade in shark fins and ray parts passes unanimously:Following the passing of the shark fin ban in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on January 26th, Guam is making progress on its own bill. On February 24th, the legislature of Guam, another US territory in the Pacific, voted unanimously to also ban the shark fin trade as well as the trade in ray parts. Vice Speaker BJ Cruz and Natural Resources Committee Chair Rory Respicio introduced the No. 44-31 in mid January, and it moved quickly through the legislative process despite heated controversy over the bill. Because of the undisputed vote, it is expected that Guam's Governor Eddie Baza Calvo will sign the bill into law shortly. California shark fin ban legislation, Assembly Bill 376:A shark fin ban bill - AB 376 ( Download California AB 376) was introduced in California on February 14th by Assemblymember Paul Fong and co-sponsored by Assemblymember Jared Huffman. The bill has now been referred to its first policy committee, the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee, which is chaired by co-sponsor Huffman. The public hearing is scheduled for March 22nd. We will have specific information on that hearing in the next few days. Senator Leland Yee from San Francisco has come out in opposition to the bill calling it "an unfair attack on Asian culture and cuisine." Asian supporters of shark and ocean conservation from anywhere in the world:
Update on Washington State SB 5688:Following a public hearing on February 14, Washington State Senate Bill 5688 was ammended and passed by the Natural Resources & Marine Waters. The substitute bill may be downloaded here. The bill now proceeds to the Rules Committee. No further action or testimony is asked for at this time. Update on Oregon House Bill 2838:Oregon's HB 2838 was introduced by Representative Rep. Brad Witt in January. The bill would prohibit a person from possessing, selling, offering for sale, trading or distributing shark fins. The bill may be viewed here. No action or testimony is asked for at this time. Comments (3)
Bill Powers said:
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