Shark Bill Passes House, Awaits Presidential Signature

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Shark Conservation Act, which passed the U.S. Senate yesterday.

(From PR Newswire) — This is a major step forward for domestic and international shark conservation efforts and establishes the United States as the global leader in shark conservation. The legislation ensures that the United States has a comprehensive fins-attached policy, making the wasteful practice of shark finning illegal in all U.S. waters.

Matt Rand, the director of global shark conservation for the Pew Environment Group, is available to discuss the significance of this bill and how it ranks as one of the biggest environmental achievements this year.
In a statement released yesterday, Matt said:

“The Shark Conservation Act would once and for all end the practice of shark finning in U.S. waters and give the United States the credibility to persuade other nations and international fishery managers to follow suit.

“Sharks are in serious trouble. An estimated 73 million are killed every year primarily to support the global shark fin trade. 30 percent of the world’s species are threatened or near threatened with extinction. Some populations, such as scalloped hammerheads and dusky sharks along the eastern U.S. coast, have plummeted by as much as 80 percent since the 1970s.

“As our marine environment becomes more and more threatened, we need further safeguards to keep ecosystems and top predator populations healthy. Domestic protections alone will not save sharks. The U.S. should use this act to bolster its position when negotiating for increased international protections.”

Matt Rand is the Director of the Global Campaign to Save Sharks, a project of the Pew Environment Group. Under Matt’s leadership, the campaign has helped the island nations of the Maldives and Palau establish shark sanctuaries in their territorial waters, removing shark fishing from 590,000 square miles in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Matt has advocated for shark conservation at the United Nations as well as international meetings such as the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species. He has appeared on CNN and Al Jazeera, and has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Agence France Presse, Associated Press, and BBC wire service.

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