animal advocacy action alert animal advocacy action alert

WIN › 

Shark Finning Banned

LAWMAKERS PASS SHARK FINNING BAN AS SESSION ENDS
12/21/10 � Kinship Circle supporters asked legislators to crack down on shark finning, a brutal practice in which fishermen sever dorsal fins and dump mutilated sharks into the sea to bleed to death. The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 was quickly approved in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nearly a year later, the Senate has unanimously passed a similar measure to plug loopholes that allow shark finning in West Coast Pacific waters. Lawmakers scored a bipartisan victory for shark conservation by quickly pushing a final version through the House. A universal ban on amputation of shark fins (an ingredient for shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy) now heads to President Obama�s desk.

Under the new law, boats must land sharks with fins intact and nonfishing vessels are prohibited from transferring detached fins. Shark finning was already illegal in Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters. Yet loopholes let Pacific fishermen catch 1.2 million pounds of shark in 2009, NOAA says. Finning has imperiled populations, with just 3,500 Great Whites free in the wild. It has triggered the deterioration of ocean ecosystems. spacer


spacer
THIS ALERT IS CLOSED. It is a live archive to use as a letter-writing example and for background research.
spacer

action

The Honorable Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Senators
The U.S. Senate
U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators and Representative,

I am pleased to learn the U.S. Senate has unanimously passed the Shark Conservation Act of 2009, a measure to plug loopholes that left shark finning legal in Pacific waters off the West Coast. Fishermen sever dorsal fins and dump mutilated sharks into the sea to bleed to death.

The Act universally bans amputation of shark fins � sought for shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy. It mandates that all boats land sharks with fins intact and it forbids nonfishing vessels to transfer detached fins.

If you are among those Congress members who supported this legislation, I commend you. I urge Senators and Representatives in conference committee to swiftly iron out the bill's final version so that the President can sign the Shark Conservation Act into law.

While shark finning was already illegal in Atlantic and Gulf Mexico waters, loopholes allowed negligent fishing in the Pacific. Finning has imperiled shark populations, with just 3,500 Great Whites free in the wild. It has triggered the deterioration of other ocean species, including hammerheads and makos.

It is just plain cruel to haul living sharks on to decks, slice off their fins, and toss them back to bleed to death or become defenseless prey at sea. The Shark Conservation Act helps end this crime against nature and promote conservation worldwide.

Thank you,

YOUR FULL NAME
ADDRESS, CITY, STATE
COUNTRY

alert info

USA CITIZENS ONLY: Look up contact information for the elected U.S. Senators and Rep in your district.

To find your federal Senators and Representative, try:
spacer ***NO AUTOMATED PETITION FOR THIS ALERT***
  1. Copy sample letter and paste it into an email.

  2. Change some words. Sign your name, address, country.

  3. Copy email addresses found for your federal legislators.
    Paste them into the TO: line of an email. Hit send.

  4. OR, most legislators now use contact forms on their websites. Modify our sample letter and paste it into the form. Click submit.

emails only

All USA citizens have different Senators and Reps, based on where you live. Look up your legislator information and then send comments to their email addresses or website contact forms.

auto-send comments

  • Try to rewrite parts of this letterin your own words:

Subject:

Salutation:

Comments:

  • To send this letterenter your contact info below:

*First Name:

*Last Name:

*Email:

*Street Address:

*City:

*State or Province:

*Zip/Postal Code:

*Country:



Confirmation Code confirmation code

confirmation code

Enter Code (Case Sensitive)

information

Disaster aid for animals  +  action for all hurt by greed, cruelty and hate.

Disaster aid for animals  +  action for all
hurt by greed, cruelty, hate.

Disaster aid for animals  +  action for all
hurt by greed, cruelty, hate.

KINSHIP CIRCLE2000
info@kinshipcircle.org314-795-2646
7380 KINGSBURY BLVD
ST. LOUIS MO 63130

314-795-2646
NONPROFIT CHARITY
IRS SECTION 501C3
TAX-DEDUCT ID20-5869532

Facebook
YouTube
Instagram

KinshipCircle.org
PRIVACY POLICY
SITE DESIGN: BRENDA SHOSS

In kinship, not dominion, each individual is seen. We do not use the rhetoric of slavery. To define animals as unique beings Guardian, Caregive, Him/Her/They… replace Owner, Own, It… Until moral equity and justice serve all — no one is free.