III
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 189
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER 2, 1999
Received
NOVEMBER 19, 1999
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the wasteful
and unsportsmanlike practice known as shark finning.
Whereas shark finning is the practice of removing the fins of
a shark and dumping its carcass back into the ocean;
Whereas demand for shark fins is driving dramatic increases
in shark fishing and mortality around the world;
Whereas the life history characteristics of sharks, including
slow growth, late sexual maturity, and the production of
few young, make them particularly vulnerable to over-
HCON 189 RFS
fishing and necessitate careful management of shark fish-
eries;
Whereas shark finning is not prohibited in the waters of the
Pacific Ocean in which fisheries are managed by the Fed-
eral Government;
Whereas according to the National Marine Fisheries Service,
the number of sharks killed in Central Pacific Ocean and
Western Pacific Ocean fisheries rose from 2,289 in 1991
to 60,857 in 1998, an increase of over 2,500 percent, and
continues to rise unabated;
Whereas of the 60,857 sharks landed in Central Pacific
Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean fisheries in 1998, 98.7
percent, or 60,085, were killed for their fins;
Whereas shark fins comprise only between 1 percent and 5
percent of the weight of a shark, and shark finning re-
sults in the unconscionable waste of 95 percent to 99
percent (by weight) of a valuable public resource;
Whereas the National Marine Fisheries Service has stated
that shark finning is wasteful, should be stopped, and is
contrary to United States fisheries conservation and
management policies;
Whereas shark finning is prohibited in the United States ex-
clusive economic zone of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of
Mexico, and the Caribbean;
Whereas the practice of shark finning in the waters of the
United States in the Pacific Ocean is inconsistent with
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Man-
agement Act, the Federal Fishery Management Plan for
Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks, and the shark
finning prohibitions that apply in State waters in the At-
lantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean;
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Whereas the United States is a global leader in shark man-
agement, and the practice of shark finning in the waters
of the United States in the Pacific Ocean is inconsistent
with United States international obligations, including
the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing of the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the
International Plan of Action for Sharks of such organiza-
tion, and the United Nation’s Agreement on Straddling
Stocks and Highly Migratory Species; and
Whereas establishment of a prohibition on the practice of
shark finning in the Central Pacific Ocean and Western
Pacific Ocean would result in the immediate reduction of
waste and could reduce shark mortality by as much as
85 percent: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the practice of removing the fins of a shark
and dumping its carcass back into the ocean, com-
monly referred to as shark finning, is a wasteful and
unsportsmanlike practice that could lead to over-
fishing of shark resources;
(2) all Federal and State agencies and other
management entities that have jurisdiction over fish-
eries in waters of the United States where the prac-
tice of shark finning is not prohibited should
promptly and permanently end that practice in those
waters; and
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(3) the Secretary of State should continue to
strongly advocate for the coordinated management
of sharks and the eventual elimination of shark fin-
ning in all other waters.
Passed the House of Representatives November 1,
1999.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.