UK Joins Canada and USA to Ban the Fin Trade

On June 29, 2023, The Shark Fins Act passed into law in the United Kingdom, protecting sharks in UK waters and a major step for conservation of sharks around the world. Following Canada and the USA, the Shark Fins Act will ban the import and export of detached shark fins, including all products containing shark fins such as canned shark fin soup. Shark Stewards applauds the example set by the United Kingdom ,and joins the StopFinning Eu coalition and calls on the EU to follow the lead to reduce impacts on Atlantic and global shark populations by facilitating the shark fin trade.

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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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Over 20,000 Shark Fins Seized, Canadian Importer Fined

On September 25, 2017, Hang Hing Herbal Medicine Ltd. imported a shipment containing 22 bags of processed shark fins, declared as fish bone, into Richmond, BC. The Canada Border Services Agency noted that the shipment contained wildlife products and referred it to ECCC Enforcement. Wildlife enforcement officers inspected the shipment and concluded that the products, declared as fish bone, were in fact shark fins. DNA testing was used to determine that the shipment contained two species of shark, one being a CITES Appendix II-listed species, Carcharhinus longimanus (oceanic whitetip shark). An importer must obtain a permit from the country of export before importing an Appendix II species into Canada. No permit to import the 12, 984 Oceanic Whitetip Shark fins had been obtained.

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Ban The Shark Fin Trade

A ban on the shark trade would help keep the ecosystem stable. The low level of sharks
in the oceans has a detrimental effect on the ecosystem as a whole. For instance, the University
of Miami’s organization SRC (Shark Research and Conservation) led by marine biologist Dr
Neil Hammerschlag says that “Our research team found that across reefs where sharks have been
depleted, prey fishes had significantly smaller caudal fins and eyes compared to the reefs with
intact shark populations (up to 40 and 46% relative difference in standardized means).”.

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Sharks: King of the Sea

“Shark!” The scream goes throughout a beachfront scene as movie goers watch the carnage of a vicious attack unfold before them. Jaws was the first of many movies to show these sensationalized stereotypes for rks, now there are several hundred “rogue shark” films in today’s industry. This needs to change amongst the entertainment industry as the media’

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