Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 737) to prohibit the sale of shark fins, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 737
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019''. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF SHARK FINS.
(a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in sections 3 and 4, no person shall possess, offer for sale, sell, or purchase any shark fin or product containing any shark fin.
(b) Penalty.--For purposes of section 308(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a violation of this section shall be treated as an act prohibited by section 307 of that Act. SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FOR TRADITIONAL FISHERIES, EDUCATION, AND SCIENCE.
Section 2 shall not apply with respect to possession of a shark fin that was taken lawfully under a State, territorial, or Federal license or permit to take or land sharks, if the shark fin is separated from the shark in a manner consistent with the license or permit and is--
(1) destroyed or discarded upon separation;
(2) used for noncommercial subsistence purposes in accordance with State or territorial law;
(3) used solely for display or research purposes by a museum, college, or university, or by any other person under a State or Federal permit to conduct noncommercial scientific research; or
(4) retained by the license or permit holder for a noncommercial purpose. SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FOR DOGFISH.
(a) In General.--It shall not be a violation of section 2 for any person to possess, offer for sale, sell, or purchase any fresh or frozen raw fin or tail from any stock of the species Mustelus canis (smooth dogfish) or Squalus acanthias (spiny dogfish).
(b) Report.--By not later than January 1, 2027, the Secretary of Commerce should review the exemption in subsection (a) and should prepare and submit to the Congress a report that includes a recommendation on whether the exemption should continue or be terminated. In preparing such report and making such recommendation, the Secretary should analyze factors including--
(1) the economic viability of dogfish fisheries with and without the continuation of the exemption;
(2) the impact to ocean ecosystems of continuing or terminating the exemption;
(3) the impact on enforcement of the ban contained in section 3 caused by the exemption; and
(4) the impact of the exemption on shark conservation. SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF RAYS AND SKATES IN SEAFOOD TRACEABILITY PROGRAM.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall revise section 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, to include rays and skates in the species and species groups specified in subsection (a)(2) of such section. SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Shark.--The term ``shark'' means any species of the orders Pristiophoriformes, Squatiniformes, Squaliformes, Hexanchiformes, Lamniformes, Carchariniformes, Orectolobiformes, and Heterodontiformes.
(2) Shark fin.--The term ``shark fin'' means the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached fin, or the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached tail, of a shark. SEC. 7. STATE AUTHORITY.
Nothing in this Act affects any right of a State or territory of the United States to adopt or enforce any regulation or standard that is more stringent than a regulation or standard in effect under this Act. SEC. 8. DETERMINATION OF BUDGET EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
Mr. Speaker, this bill would make it legal to possess, buy, or sell shark fins in the United States.
Now, everyone knows sharks are in trouble. Around the globe, one- quarter of sharks and their relatives are threatened with extinction. They are being caught and killed on average 30 percent faster than they can reproduce, in large part due to the demand for their fins to fuel the global shark fin trade. The fins from as many as 73 million sharks enter the shark fin trade every single year.
As top predators in the oceans, they play a critical role in ecosystems impacting our fisheries, coral reefs, and tourism economies. The concern for declining shark populations and the impact of their loss and the impact that loss has on ecosystems and tourism alike has led to increased efforts to conserve sharks globally, including no-take marine reserves, species-specific fishing bans, and shark fin trade bans.
While the United States has banned the practice of shark finning, we have not banned the buying and selling of shark fins, which means that we are still a part of the problem.
States and the private sector are catching on. Already 12 States, three territories, 40 airlines, and 20 major international shipping companies and other corporations such as Amazon, Disney, Hilton, and Grubhub have all refused to partake in this trade that devastates shark populations around the world.
And just this year Canada passed a similar bill, in large part thanks to our efforts here. That is the intention of this bill. When the United States steps up to lead, others will follow.
H.R. 737 would build on the leadership of these States, territories, and companies by eliminating shark fin sales and possession in the United States.
In addition to its 287 bipartisan cosponsors, this bill enjoys the support of recreational fishing interests, aquariums, over 150 scientists, 150 chefs, over 300 dive businesses and over 130 nonprofits. With this overwhelming support and at a time when so many shark populations are depleted, it is of utmost importance that we pass this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Congressman Sablan for his leadership and also Congressman McCaul for his leadership on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would just note, that in California, where I authored a very similar ban on the possession, sale, and trade of shark fins, the sky has not fallen, the world has not ended. All of the calamities that my friend just predicted have not taken place, and guess what, there continues to be a sustainable shark fishery for the meat without contributing to the global shark fin trade that is driving the decimation of shark populations around the world.
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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, just another shout-out to Congressman McCaul and his wife, who was a fantastic witness at the hearing we had on this bill at the Natural Resources Committee, and also for the leadership of the State of Texas and so many other States, territories, and leaders in the private sector who understand we have to end this terribly wasteful and cruel global shark fin trade.
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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, if this is a question that requires us to listen to the experts and the scientists about how to end the global shark fin trade, then it is not much of a debate, because over 150 scientists are on record supporting this bill. The same consensus exists among leaders at aquariums, academic institutions, and other places.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Webster for his engagement on this issue. I think his intentions are noble. I think he wants to help end the global shark fin trade. Unfortunately, though, his bill just won't work.
We did incorporate some of that bill, the part, frankly, that would not cost a lot of money. By doing so, we added skates and rays to the seafood import monitoring program. That is a good suggestion, because skates and rays are also not doing well globally, and they deserve our attention.
But the rest of the bill is expensive, cumbersome, and, frankly, it is just not going to work. It would require a complicated, expensive certification scheme that might sound good on paper, but we know the real world that we live in.
In the marine fisheries management in the United States right now, we are years, and sometimes decades, behind having the resources we need for adequate and timely stock assessments, even for the fisheries that we are already trying to manage right now.
So the idea that we would somehow be able to do this, be able to afford it, and also do it in a way that we could comply with in this country so we could hold other countries around the world to that standard, if we are unable to do all of that stuff, then requiring other countries to meet that standard would trigger a WTO violation and we would do nothing to help end the global shark fin trade.
Again, I appreciate the gentleman's interest in this issue. I know that Florida has been said to be the heart of the opposition to this bill, but we should note that 19 members of the Florida delegation support this bill, including 6 Republicans in the Florida delegation.
Mr. Speaker, again, I agree with my friend: We should listen to the scientists--not the two who my friend cited in his closing arguments, but how about the over 150 who are on record in support of this bill? We should listen to them.
We should listen to the many States and territories and other nations, including, recently, Canada, our neighbor to the north.
We should listen to the many corporate leaders around the world, all of whom have reached the inevitable conclusion that, if you are serious about ending this wasteful and inhumane and horrific practice of shark finning, then you have to tackle the shark fin trade; you have to ban the possession and sale of shark fins, because, if you don't, we know here in the United States we have banned the practice of shark finning for years, and yet we have continued to be part of and contributed to the global shark fin trade because we don't ban the possession and trade and sale of the fin itself.
That is what this bill does.
And in terms of U.S. fishermen who are, as my friend says, following the laws and doing everything right, well, the good news is they are going to be just fine under this law. We know that because, in States like California, Oregon, Texas, and other places, folks who want to continue fishing for shark meat have been able to do so, even though those States have passed bans just like this on the possession, trade, and sale of shark fins.
This is a good bill. It is an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill. It is a bill that includes support from 19 members of the Florida delegation, including 6 Republicans from that delegation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.
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