Madam Speaker, today I have reintroduced a bill to amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the…
Madam Speaker, today I have reintroduced a bill to amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks. In the 110th Congress, the House of Representatives passed this legislation, H.R. 5741 or the ``Shark Conservation Act of 2008,'' by voice vote under suspension of the rules. The Senate, however, was unable to take action on the bill received by the House or on its companion bill, S. 3231, before it adjourned. I have, therefore, reintroduced this bill today given the ongoing necessity for improved shark conservation and its benefits for ocean ecosystems.
Sharks are long-lived apex predators, which breed slowly, making it difficult for them to maintain populations under fishing pressure. Sharks have been increasingly exploited in recent decades, both as bycatch in the pelagic longline fisheries from the 1960s onward, and as targets in direct fisheries that expanded rapidly in the 1980s. The rising demand for shark fins over past decades has also led to increases in the particularly exploitive practice of shark finning, where fins of sharks are removed and the carcass is discarded at sea.
According to scientists, scalloped hammerhead, white, and thresher shark populations are each estimated to have declined by over 75 percent in the past 15 years due in large part to these fishing pressures. Removing these top predators drastically changes the food web structure, marine diversity, and ecosystem health. Addressing the practice of shark finning is an imperative step toward the conservation of sharks and marine ecosystems.
Congress recognized shark finning as an inherently wasteful practice in enacting the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 (Public Law 106- 557). This Act prohibits U.S. fishermen from removing the fins of sharks and discarding the carcass at sea, and from landing or transporting shark fins without the corresponding carcass.
The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 includes several measures to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of that prohibition and would ensure that the intent of Congress is achieved. First, the bill eliminates an unexpected enforcement loophole related to the transport of shark fins by prohibiting vessels from having custody, control, or possession of shark fins which are not naturally attached to the corresponding carcass. This is intended to ensure that U.S.-flagged vessels are not traveling to the high seas and purchasing fins from fishermen engaged in shark finning and bringing them into U.S. waters in an attempt to skirt the finning prohibition. The bill further strengthens the enforcement of the existing ban on shark finning by calling for sharks to be landed with their fins naturally attached. This ``fins-attached'' landing strategy simplifies enforcement of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act. It is also consistent with the National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS, final rule, which took effect on July 24, 2008, and which implements the management measures described in the final Amendment 2 to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan and strengthens enforcement of existing law in U.S. Atlantic waters by requiring that sharks be landed with their fins attached.
Finally, the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 amends the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to allow the Secretary of Commerce to identify and list nations that have not adopted a regulatory program for the conservation of sharks comparable to the United States. This amendment promotes the conservation of sharks internationally and in a manner that is consistent with the expectations placed on U.S. fishermen.
The bill is further consistent with the United States position in the United Nations relative to Resolution 62/177 that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 2007, and which calls upon nation-states to take immediate and concerted action to improve the implementation of and compliance with national measures that regulate shark fisheries, including management efforts to require that all sharks be landed with each fin naturally attached.
The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 reestablishes the intended protections for sharks under U.S. law. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to again pass this timely and important bill in the House of Representatives. I also hope it will receive favorable action and consideration by the other body in the 111th Congress.
