Last week the New York Senate Environmental Conservation Committee voted in favour of a bill to ban the trade, sale, possession and distribution of shark fins throughout the state.
If the bill is signed into law, New York will become the first East Coast state to join California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in the growing US movement to protect sharks. The Governor of Illinois is expected to sign similar legislation into law soon, and shark fin trade ban bills are also pending in Delaware and New Jersey.
Oceana’s campaign director Beth Lowell applauded the decision and said that this crucial vote marks an important step for shark conservation nationwide.
New York is the largest hub for imported shark fins on the East Coast, which are usually used as an ingredient in the Asian delicacy shark fin soup.
Although shark finning is illegal in the United States, there are no federal laws that address the shark fin trade. Many shark fins are imported into the US from countries with few or even no shark protections in place.
