US Congress has banned the practice of shark finning in all US waters in a move environmental advocates say international regulators should emulate.
The law will require all sharks caught in US waters to be landed with their fins still naturally attached, outlawing the practice in which fishermen cut off fins – the most lucrative part of the shark.
US finning restrictions previously in place in its Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters are extended to the Pacific in the new law.
Demand for shark fins has been increasing in recent years with the growth of the middle-class in China, where the fins are highly sought after for use in shark-fin soup.
Activists say they hope the new law will place the US in a leadership position on shark conservation at international negotiations.
"We've finally realised that sharks are worth more alive than dead," Elizabeth Griffin Wilson, marine scientist with at the conservation group Oceana, said in response to the new legislation. "While shark fins and other shark products are valuable, the role sharks play in the marine ecosystem is priceless."
[Source: UPI]
