Shark Stewards CITES Intern Update, Vivian Guido

The requiem and hammerhead shark families include some of the most endangered species of sharks. Important apex predators, hammerheads and requiem sharks are among the highest traded fins in the Asian market. New research shows that 37% of all sharks are threatened with extinction, the highest percentage among vertebrate groups in the ocean. Pelagic (open ocean) sharks have declined over 70 percent in the last 50 years. Additionally, reef shark populations were found to be functionally extinct on 20% of coral reefs surveyed around the globe.of all species in the shark fin trade are endangered.

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Press Release: Federal shark bill included in the National Defense Authorization Act

PRESIDENT BIDEN SIGNS H.R. 7776 THE “JAMES M. INHOFE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT” FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023, US SHARK SALES & TRADE PROTECTION BILL INCLUDED.

Today President Biden signed into law H.R. 7776, the “James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023,” which authorizes fiscal year 2023 appropriations for Department of Defense programs and military construction, Department of Energy national security programs, and Intelligence programs. It also includes legislation that will protect sharks, whales and coral reefs in US waters.

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Biden Signs Fisheries Protection into Law With the Omnibus Bill

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced today that the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senator Feinstein and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) to phase out the use of harmful large mesh drift gillnets in federal waters, was included in the fiscal year 2023 omnibus government funding bill expected to be signed into law later this week.

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The Year of the Shark: December News

With your help, Shark Stewards has catalyzed considerable conservation success for sharks in the Congress with the US Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, regulating gear in Pacific fisheries, and passing global trade restrictions this year!

This month, the Congress made the penultimate step towards saving overfished shark populations and endangered sharks from extinction, by passing a bill that will ban the USA’s involvement in the global shark fin trade. 

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Congress Passes Shark Fin Sales Ban, Forwards to President Biden

To help save sharks from extinction, the United States just moved one step closer to protecting them from the global shark fin trade.  

On Thursday, the Senate approved language making the possession, sale and trade of shark fins illegal, with a few exceptions, and ban the trade of shark fins. The provision, HR 2811, which the House inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act and passed last week will go to President Biden for his signature.

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