Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 737 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To prohibit the sale of shark fins, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H737.RFS H737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 737 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shark Fin Sales Elimi- 2 nation Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF SHARK FINS. 4 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sections 3 5 and 4, no person shall possess, offer for sale, sell, or pur- 6 chase any shark fin or product containing any shark fin. 7 (b) PENALTY.—For purposes of section 308(a) of the 8 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage- 9 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a violation of this section 10 shall be treated as an act prohibited by section 307 of 11 that Act. 12 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FOR TRADITIONAL FISHERIES, EDU- 13 CATION, AND SCIENCE. 14 Section 2 shall not apply with respect to possession 15 of a shark fin that was taken lawfully under a State, terri- 16 torial, or Federal license or permit to take or land sharks, 17 if the shark fin is separated from the shark in a manner 18 consistent with the license or permit and is— 19 (1) destroyed or discarded upon separation; 20 (2) used for noncommercial subsistence pur- 21 poses in accordance with State or territorial law; 22 (3) used solely for display or research purposes 23 by a museum, college, or university, or by any other 24 person under a State or Federal permit to conduct 25 noncommercial scientific research; or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H737.RFS H737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 737 RFS (4) retained by the license or permit holder for 1 a noncommercial purpose. 2 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FOR DOGFISH. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be a violation of sec- 4 tion 2 for any person to possess, offer for sale, sell, or 5 purchase any fresh or frozen raw fin or tail from any stock 6 of the species Mustelus canis (smooth dogfish) or Squalus 7 acanthias (spiny dogfish). 8 (b) REPORT.—By not later than January 1, 2027, 9 the Secretary of Commerce should review the exemption 10 in subsection (a) and should prepare and submit to the 11 Congress a report that includes a recommendation on 12 whether the exemption should continue or be terminated. 13 In preparing such report and making such recommenda- 14 tion, the Secretary should analyze factors including— 15 (1) the economic viability of dogfish fisheries 16 with and without the continuation of the exemption; 17 (2) the impact to ocean ecosystems of con- 18 tinuing or terminating the exemption; 19 (3) the impact on enforcement of the ban con- 20 tained in section 3 caused by the exemption; and 21 (4) the impact of the exemption on shark con- 22 servation. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H737.RFS H737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 737 RFS SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF RAYS AND SKATES IN SEAFOOD 1 TRACEABILITY PROGRAM. 2 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 3 of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall revise section 4 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, to in- 5 clude rays and skates in the species and species groups 6 specified in subsection (a)(2) of such section. 7 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) SHARK.—The term ‘‘shark’’ means any spe- 10 cies of the orders Pristiophoriformes, 11 Squatiniformes, Squaliformes, Hexanchiformes, 12 Lamniformes, Carchariniformes, Orectolobiformes, 13 and Heterodontiformes. 14 (2) SHARK FIN.—The term ‘‘shark fin’’ means 15 the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached fin, 16 or the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached 17 tail, of a shark. 18 SEC. 7. STATE AUTHORITY. 19 Nothing in this Act affects any right of a State or 20 territory of the United States to adopt or enforce any reg- 21 ulation or standard that is more stringent than a regula- 22 tion or standard in effect under this Act. 23 SEC. 8. DETERMINATION OF BUDGET EFFECTS. 24 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 25 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H737.RFS H737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 737 RFS shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 1 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 2 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 3 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 4 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 5 vote on passage. 6 Passed the House of Representatives November 20, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. 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