116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 737 

AN ACT 

To prohibit the sale of shark fins, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shark Fin Sales Elimi3 nation Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF SHARK FINS. 

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sections 3 

6 and 4, no person shall possess, offer for sale, sell, or pur7 chase any shark fin or product containing any shark fin. 

8 (b) PENALTY.—For purposes of section 308(a) of the 

9 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage10 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a violation of this section 

11 shall be treated as an act prohibited by section 307 of 

12 that Act. 

13 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FOR TRADITIONAL FISHERIES, EDU14 CATION, AND SCIENCE. 

15 Section 2 shall not apply with respect to possession 

16 of a shark fin that was taken lawfully under a State, terri17 torial, or Federal license or permit to take or land sharks, 

18 if the shark fin is separated from the shark in a manner 

19 consistent with the license or permit and is— 

20 (1) destroyed or discarded upon separation; 

21 (2) used for noncommercial subsistence pur22 poses in accordance with State or territorial law; 

23 (3) used solely for display or research purposes 

24 by a museum, college, or university, or by any other 

25 person under a State or Federal permit to conduct 

26 noncommercial scientific research; or 
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1 (4) retained by the license or permit holder for 

2 a noncommercial purpose. 

3 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FOR DOGFISH. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be a violation of sec5 tion 2 for any person to possess, offer for sale, sell, or 

6 purchase any fresh or frozen raw fin or tail from any stock 

7 of the species Mustelus canis (smooth dogfish) or Squalus 

8 acanthias (spiny dogfish). 

9 (b) REPORT.—By not later than January 1, 2027, 

10 the Secretary of Commerce should review the exemption 

11 in subsection (a) and should prepare and submit to the 

12 Congress a report that includes a recommendation on 

13 whether the exemption should continue or be terminated. 

14 In preparing such report and making such recommenda15 tion, the Secretary should analyze factors including— 

16 (1) the economic viability of dogfish fisheries 

17 with and without the continuation of the exemption; 

18 (2) the impact to ocean ecosystems of con19 tinuing or terminating the exemption; 

20 (3) the impact on enforcement of the ban con21 tained in section 3 caused by the exemption; and 

22 (4) the impact of the exemption on shark con23 servation. 
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1 SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF RAYS AND SKATES IN SEAFOOD 

2 TRACEABILITY PROGRAM. 

3 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall revise section 

5 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, to in6 clude rays and skates in the species and species groups 

7 specified in subsection (a)(2) of such section. 

8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) SHARK.—The term ‘‘shark’’ means any spe11 cies of the orders Pristiophoriformes, 

12 Squatiniformes, Squaliformes, Hexanchiformes, 

13 Lamniformes, Carchariniformes, Orectolobiformes, 

14 and Heterodontiformes. 

15 (2) SHARK FIN.—The term ‘‘shark fin’’ means 

16 the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached fin, 

17 or the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached 

18 tail, of a shark. 

19 SEC. 7. STATE AUTHORITY. 

20 Nothing in this Act affects any right of a State or 

21 territory of the United States to adopt or enforce any reg22 ulation or standard that is more stringent than a regula23 tion or standard in effect under this Act. 

24 SEC. 8. DETERMINATION OF BUDGET EFFECTS. 

25 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

26 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
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1 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

2 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

3 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

4 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro5 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

6 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 20, 

2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 737 

AN ACT 

To prohibit the sale of shark fins, and for other 

purposes.