Title: Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2017
Policy area: Animals

Summary:
Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2017
This bill makes it illegal to possess, buy, or sell shark fins or any product containing shark fins.	A person may possess a shark fin that was lawfully taken consistent with a license or permit under certain circumstances.
Penalties are	imposed	for violations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1456 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1456

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


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 9, 2017

    Mr. Royce of California (for himself, Mr. Sablan, Ms. Lee, Mr. 
Blumenauer, Mr. Kinzinger, Mr. Farenthold, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Cohen, Mr. 
 Katko, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Garrett, Ms. 
 Kaptur, Ms. McSally, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. 
  Chabot, Mr. Curbelo of Florida, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Keating, and Mrs. 
  Radewagen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Sales Elimination Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF SHARK FINS.

    (a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in section 3, no person shall 
possess, offer for sale, sell, or purchase any shark fin or product 
containing any shark fin.
    (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.

    Section 2 shall not apply with respect to possession of 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) used for noncommercial subsistence purposes in 
        accordance with State or territorial law; or
            (3) 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'' means any species of the 
        orders Pristiophoriformes, Squatiniformes, Squaliformes, 
        Hexanchiformes, Lamniformes, Carchariniformes, 
        Orectolobiformes, and Heterodontiformes.
            (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.

SEC. 5. STATE AUTHORITY.

    Nothing in this Act affects 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.
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