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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House Votes to Pass Shark Fin Trade Ban

A bill to end the USA shark fin trade reintroduced by Representatives Sablan and McCaul passed through the Congress with a strong bipartisan majority Thursday.

House lawmakers passed the measure that would ban buying and selling shark fins in the United States and help the country fight illegal fishing and overfishing sharks. As part of the huge National Defense Authorization Act HR 776, the “END Wildlife Trafficking Act” includes the shark fin sale provision.

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Ban Wire Leaders to Save Endangered Pacific Sharks

The 16th meeting of the WCPFC is taking place on 5-11 December in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and we are urging member states in attendance to fight for sharks and rays that are harvested in the Pacific.

Banning wire leaders and shark lines would reduce fishing mortality of oceanic whitetips by 40.5%, and that of silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis), another threatened species, by 30.8%, according to research cited in the WCPFC proposal.

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Stop Overfishing Endangered Sharks in the Global Shark Fin Trade

Join our Friends at Only One Expressing your Support to List 3 Families of sharks and Rays
An upcoming vote at the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) at CoP19 November among over 180 nations could protect endangered sharks from the shark fin trade Please you add your name to this letter urging world leaders to end the shark fin trade driving the decline of many species of sharks.

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Diving With Sharks to Save Them

Join Shark Stewards Director David McGuire and Southern California Chair Maria Korcmaros for a conversation on shark attacks, diving with sharks and saving them.

Images and short film from recent work with Tiger sharks in Hawaii, and international shark conservation work with shark stewards.

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