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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5584 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5584

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2016

 Mr. Sablan (for himself, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. 
Thompson of California, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Royce, Mr. Farenthold, Mr. 
    Meehan, and Mr. Katko) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
 Committees on Foreign Affairs, and Ways and Means, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

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

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON TRADE IN SHARK FINS.

    (a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in section 3, no person shall 
possess, trade, distribute, ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, 
purchase, import, or export shark fins or products containing shark 
fins.
    (b) Penalty.--For purposes of section 308(a) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a 
violation of this section shall be treated as an act prohibited by 
section 307 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1857).

SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FOR TRADITIONAL FISHERIES, EDUCATION, AND SCIENCE.

    A person may possess a shark fin that was taken lawfully under a 
State, territorial, or Federal license or permit to take or land 
sharks, if the shark fin is separated from the shark in a manner 
consistent with the license or permit and is--
            (1) destroyed or discarded;
            (2) retained by the license or permit holder for a 
        noncommercial purpose;
            (3) used for noncommercial subsistence purposes in 
        accordance with State or territorial law; or
            (4) used solely for display or research purposes by a 
        museum, college, or university, or other person under a State 
        or Federal permit to conduct noncommercial scientific research.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Shark.--The term ``shark''--
                    (A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), means 
                any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) any stock of the species Mustelus canis 
                        (smooth dogfish) or Squalus acanthias (spiny 
                        dogfish) that is managed pursuant to a fishery 
                        management plan prepared under section 303 of 
                        the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
                        Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853); or
                            (ii) any species in the superorder Batoidea 
                        that is managed pursuant to a fishery 
                        management plan prepared under section 303 of 
                        the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
                        Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853).
            (2) Shark fin.--The term ``shark fin'' means the raw, 
        dried, or otherwise processed detached fin, or the raw, dried, 
        or otherwise processed detached tail, of a shark.
            (3) Import.--The term ``import'' has the same meaning that 
        term has under section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
        Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802).

SEC. 5. STATE AUTHORITY.

    Nothing in this Act precludes, denies, or limits any right of a 
State or territory of the United States to adopt or enforce any 
regulation or standard that is more stringent than a regulation or 
standard in effect under this Act.
                                 <all>
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