Shark-Fin Legislation Moves to Committee Next Week

(D-Mountain View) announced today that he and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) will present Assembly Bill 376, legislation which specifically bans shark finning, to the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee next Tuesday.

According to the press release AB 376, if passed, would "protect the shark population by ending California's contribution to the shark fin trade." The majority of the fins then end up eaten, , in expensive soups "associated with affluence."

Fong described that the fins and tails of sharks are removed while the animal is still alive. The shark, still alive, is then thrown back in the ocean.

The proposed bill, however, has already raised a lot of controversy in the Bay Area and has at least one opponent, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco).

Though Yee agrees that sharks should be protected, he did not support a complete ban in the use of shark fins when the shark is brought aboard a vessel and will be use for other purposes, explained Yee spokesman Adam Keigwin to Mountain View Patch.

"A lot of people misunderstood his position. Those that know his position believe it's a reasonable one," said Keigwin, who added that Yee has the support of restaurants. "A lot of people think he's for the shark fin concept, which he's not."

Keigwin highlighted Yee's voting record in support of the League of Conservation, the Sierra Club. What Yee wants to see occur, Keigwin continued, is the discontinuation of the current bad practice of how the fins are obtained.

"We need to go after those practices," he said. "Shark finning is an inhuman practice and we need to stop that, but a complete ban is not the right answer."

Fong's figures stated that between 38 million and 73 million sharks died last year, a majority to shark finning, and that 90 percent of some shark species have gone extinct.

Shark fins, in Asian community, are usually served in soup and at special events such as weddings. At in Mountain View, shark fin soup as an appetizer costs $25.50 per person and as high as $308 for a table of 10. At , an individual serving costs $38, a whole rack of shark fin costs $180, and for a table of 10, the cheapest price for a wedding banquet is $438.

On Mar. 14, AB 376 was amended to include some exceptions, which would allow persons with a license or a permit to possess shark fin if they took or landed a shark for recreational or commercial purposes. However, the exception does not then allow for the "sell, offer for sale, trade or distribute" of the shark fin.

"There seems to be a movement to go after food that isn't popular in Western culture that people don't know or appreciate," Keigwin said about Fong's legislation. "It's not banning all shark products such as oils, steak and the other uses. Only the one use that's used in the Asian community."

"Just because it's different, it doesn't mean it's wrong," he said.

Editor's note: A response from Fong in regards to questions posed about the amendments to AB 376 were not received by time of publication.