REPORT TITLE: 
Shark Finning Prohibited


DESCRIPTION:
Prohibits the possession, purchase, sale, or trade of shark
fins. (HB1706 HD1)


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        1706
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO FISHERIES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the vast ocean area
 
 2 surrounding the State of Hawaii has historically contained
 
 3 bountiful natural resources and productive fisheries that have
 
 4 had great commercial, recreational, social, cultural, and
 
 5 sustenance values to Hawaii's people.  Many of these fisheries
 
 6 are now in decline and in critical need of effective conservation
 
 7 and management measures to prevent further decline and to create
 
 8 a pattern of sustainable use for future generations.  One of the
 
 9 fisheries that has shown the most urgent need for conservation
 
10 and management is the shark fishery.
 
11      Sharks are one of the top predators in the marine food chain
 
12 and play an important role in our ocean's ecosystem.  Sharks have
 
13 characteristics that make them more vulnerable to overfishing
 
14 than most fish, and data from state, federal, and international
 
15 agencies show a decline in the shark populations both locally and
 
16 worldwide.  Unlike other fish species, most sharks do not reach
 
17 sexual maturity until seven-to-twelve years of age and then only
 
18 give birth to a small litter of young.  Thus, sharks cannot
 
19 rebuild their populations quickly once they are overfished.
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      About one hundred thousand sharks (two thousand metric tons)
 
 2 are taken each year by Hawaii-based longliners.   Data from log
 
 3 books and observers indicate approximately sixty per cent are
 
 4 finned, that means once caught, the fins are removed, and the
 
 5 carcasses are discarded.  These fins are landed in Hawaii as
 
 6 unreported, untaxed catch.  An additional one hundred fifty
 
 7 thousand metric tons of shark are taken elsewhere in the Pacific,
 
 8 primarily for their fins, and a large quantity of those fins are
 
 9 transhipped unreported and untaxed into and through the State.
 
10      Shark fins sell for up to $50 a pound in the international
 
11 shark fin market. It is estimated that some $30,000,000 worth of
 
12 shark fin flows through the State each year.  Although the
 
13 National Marine Fisheries Service considers sharks taken for fins
 
14 as incidental catch, not bycatch, since part of the shark is
 
15 used, the waste involved in the practice of shark finning offends
 
16 many native Hawaiians and other indigenous peoples of the
 
17 Pacific.
 
18      The legislature finds shark finning to be a wasteful and
 
19 inhumane practice, and the landing of unreported shark fins
 
20 contributes little if anything to the economy of this State.  The
 
21 purpose of this Act is to prohibit the harvest, with intent to
 
22 sell, or sale of shark fins.
 

 
 
 
Page 3                                                     1706
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 2.  Chapter 188, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4      "§188-     Sharks; prohibitions; administrative penalties.
 
 5 (a)  No person shall knowingly harvest for sale, possess for
 
 6 sale, buy, sell, or trade shark fins unless possessing
 
 7 documentation that the fins were taken from a shark landed whole
 
 8 in the State.  As used in this subsection:
 
 9      "Landed" means off-loaded or caught in the State.
 
10      "Shark fin" means the fin of a shark with the shark carcass
 
11 removed.
 
12      "Whole" means the entire shark is landed with its head,
 
13 tail, and flesh intact.
 
14      (b)  Any person violating this section or any rule adopted
 
15 thereunder shall be subject to forfeiture of shark fins, license,
 
16 vessel, and fishing equipment, and an administrative fine of not
 
17 less than $5,000 and not more than $15,000, and may be assessed
 
18 administrative fees and costs, and attorney's fees and costs.
 
19      (c)  Any criminal prosecution or penalty imposed for
 
20 violation of this section or any rule adopted thereunder shall
 
21 not preclude forfeiture pursuant to section 199-7, or the
 
22 imposition of any administrative fines and costs or attorney's
 
23 fees and costs under this section."
 

 
Page 4                                                     1706
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 3.  Section 187A-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by adding two new definitions to be appropriately
 
 3 inserted and to read as follows:
 
 4      ""Harvest" means the taking and retaining of any part of a
 
 5 marine organism by any means whatsoever.
 
 6      "Shark" means any member of the class Chondrichthyes,
 
 7 including but not limited to: inshore species of galapagos shark
 
 8 (Carcharhinus galapagensis), reef blacktip shark (Carcharhinus
 
 9 melanopterus), gray reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos), big-
 
10 nosed shark (Carcharhinus altimus), tiger shark (Galeocerdo
 
11 cuvier), blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus), smooth
 
12 hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena), reef whitetip shark
 
13 (Triaenodon obesus), scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini),
 
14 sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus), offshore species of white
 
15 shark (Carcharodon carcharias), shortfin mako shark (Isurus
 
16 oxyrinchus), silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), blue shark
 
17 (Prionace glauca), whale shark (Rhincodon typus), thresher shark
 
18 (Alopias vulpinus), oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus
 
19 longimanus), cookie cutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis), and
 
20 megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios)."
 
21      SECTION 4.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that
 
22 matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were
 
23 begun before its effective date.
 

 
Page 5                                                     1706
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 5.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 2      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.