Congress Approves Shark Fin Trade Bill To Limit Threat To Marine Life

WASHINGTON — Congress has approved a bill to limit the lucrative trade in shark fins, especially off the West Coast, as demand rises for shark fin soup in Asia and other parts of the world.

The bill, approved this week by the House and Senate, would require all vessels to land sharks with fins attached and prevent nonfishing vessels from transporting shark fins without their carcasses. Rising demand for shark fin soup, a delicacy in many cultures, has led to an increase in removal of shark fins, with the bodies dumped overboard.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said the bill would tackle what he called a serious threat to marine life. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed worldwide each year, primarily to support the global shark fin trade.

Comments

[caroline gray]

05:22 PM on 12/22/2010

now to crack down on the restaurants in the USA who serve it.

[Julie Zakidalskaia]

10:43 PM on 01/20/2011

yep, there is one next to my house, I want to see the soup taken off the menu..we did it for whale meat sushi, why not for this?

[Drewry Media]

09:45 AM on 12/22/2010

Shark meat tastes very good, when prepared in a healthy way. It's also a great source of protein, for bodybuilders who seek to cut carbs and build lean & quality muscle mass =)

http://www.DrewryNewsNetwork.com/fitness-nutrition

[BookKeepersSon]

10:09 AM on 12/22/2010

That's a whole different thing than shark fin soup. If you've ever seen footage of what they do to the shark to get the fin, if you have any human emotion in you, you'd be horrified.

To catch an animal, kill it and it it is one thing.

To catch an animal, cut off part of its body and leave it alive is quite another. It's absolutely brutal.