OK, so sharks don’t actually ever applaud. But if they could, they would be heartily clapping their fins together for the decision by California Governor Jerry Brown to sign AB 376 to ban the possession and sale of shark fins in California.
Authored by Assemblymembers Paul Fong and Jared Huffman, the bill will help put a stop to the unnecessary and cruel practice of shark finning. As described by the governor himself:
“The practice of cutting the fins off of living sharks and dumping them back in the ocean is not only cruel, but it harms the health of our oceans. Researchers estimate that some shark populations have declined by more than 90 percent, portending grave threats to our environment and commercial fishing. In the interest of future generations, I have signed this bill.”
The appetite for shark fins has been a major contributor to the near-collapse of shark populations worldwide, including here in California. Each year tens of millions of sharks are killed for use in shark fin soup.
Research shows that the massive depletion of sharks has cascading effects throughout the oceans’ ecosystems. Complicating matters, sharks are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because they are slow to reach reproductive maturity and produce very few offspring.
California represents a significant market for shark fins in the United States, with San Diego and Los Angeles as two of the top U.S. entry points for shark fin imports. AB 376 will eliminate the supply of shark fins here and end our state’s involvement in the highly destructive global shark fin trade.
CLCV and the entire conservation community applauds the governor’s decision to sign this important bill into law. This legislation will help to stabilize shark populations that have been in significant decline in recent years, preserving sharks’ role at the top of our marine food webs.
This victory would not have happened without the amazing outpouring of activism and support from Californians who care deeply about protecting sharks, the health of our oceans and California’s unique environment. Just as sharks can’t applaud this bill’s passage, they can’t stop humans from harvesting their fins, so we’ll have to do both for them.
Thank you to Assemblymembers Paul Fong and Jared Huffman for authoring the bill and all of the conservation groups who worked together to pass the ban, which will protect sharks, our fragile ecosystems and a healthy environment for future generations.
– Warner Chabot
CEO, CLCV
