Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McClintock for yielding.
I rise today in opposition to H.R. 737, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act. As a Floridian and member of the House Natural Resources Committee, promoting shark conservation has long been a priority of mine. I am glad to see sharks receiving national attention.
Sharks play a crucial role in our ocean's ecosystem, and yet, they face a grave threat: shark finning, a cruel practice of capturing sharks, clipping their fins, and casting the rest of it to a slow death in the ocean. This practice is cruel and inhumane.
I was a member of the legislature almost 30 years ago when Florida was one of the first States to ban shark finning. Since then, finning has become completely illegal in the United States.
Unfortunately, finning still occurs in unregulated waters around our globe. H.R. 737 will do nothing to protect sharks from being finned in those areas. Instead, it would require American fishermen who legally and responsibly land sharks to destroy or discard their fins, leading to terrible waste.
Many scientists, conservationists, and commercial fishermen have vocally opposed this bill and have said it will not advance shark restoration or stop the practice of finning.
This bill would have a devastating effect on responsible American fishermen, including many in my own district in Florida who have made sacrifices to conserve and rebuild our shark populations.
I offer a separate bill, an alternative, H.R. 788, one that has been sponsored and supported by Senator Rubio in the Senate and is probably the key bill there for this particular issue. Instead of banning the sale of humanely sourced shark fins, my bill would encourage bad actors in the shark fin market to create science-based management systems for shark conservation.
My bill requires any nation seeking to export shark, ray, or skate to the United States to first be certified by NOAA that it has conservation policies in place that rise to the standards of U.S. fishermen and that forbid nations to practice shark finning.
The U.S. plays an important role on the world stage in fishing management and conservation. H.R. 737 would remove the U.S. from the shark fin market; it would silence the leading voice in shark conservation--my bill would amplify it--and ensure no finned shark fins enter into the United States.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to make the best choice for sustaining shark populations long-term and oppose this deeply flawed bill before us today.
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