SHARK FIN UPDATE - 4/25/99Since last June we have been featuring a story regarding the practice of transhipping shark fins thru Hawai'i. Every year over 60,000 sharks are caught, their fins removed, and their carcasses discarded at sea. Sometimes the de-finned sharks are left alive - to be thrown overboard to die a slow death by drowning. During April, 1999, House Bill 1706 was brought before the State Legislature. The bill stated "Shark finning is a wasteful and inhumane practice. The purpose of this Act is to prevent the practice by requiring that sharks be landed whole". The bill failed by a 3-3 vote, with one Senator not present. The bulk of the opposition came from the Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council. Our hats are off to them for their political stamina. Fortunately it is not over yet. We still have the opportunity to take action and have the transshipment of shark fin stopped. Please let the National Marine Fisheries Service, who permits and regulates the American vessels that rondevous with foreign fishing vessels to transship the fins, know that we are opposed to this practice. If you take the time to send the attached petition to Dr. William Bill Hogarth, Director of the Southwest Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, you might be able to save thousands of sharks from this inhumane practice. Please email this page to everyone you know. We would like to get about 25,000 signatures by the end of next month. To review HB 1706, and see the SHARK FIN pictures and stories that brought it about CLICK HERE
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 Where's the shark?
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