While in 2010 the United States banned shark finning - the act
of slicing off a shark's fins at seas and throwing the bleeding
torso overboard to die - it has still allowed the sale and
possession of shark fins, encouraging import and a market for
the fins. Shark fins are primarily used in shark fin soup. On
Tuesday, the California Senate passed a bill to ban shark fin
sale, trade, and possession. It awaits the governor's signature.
Oceana joined the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Humane Society of
the United States and Wildaid in support of this legislation.
This legislation builds on precedent and the momentum of
Oceana’s work to protect sharks around the globe, including the
U.S.’s ban passed last year, and a national ban on finning in
Chile passed this July. The California bill joins similar
legislation passed this year in Washington and Oregon, and last
year in Hawaii. This coastwide action will help to lessen the
demand for shark fins, and thus help save sharks across the
globe that are slaughtered by count