Shark-finning
By Pat Omandam
opponents hopeful
Star-BulletinCritics say passage of a resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives banning shark finning in U.S. waters is an encouraging sign.
"Basically, for me it just endorses everything we've been saying that this isn't an emotional issue as much as it is a biological one and a waste issue," said Bob Endreson of the Western Pacific Fisheries Coalition and Hawaii Fishermen's Foundation.
"So if I'm emotional, then at least I know I'm in good company with half of Congress," Endreson said.
The coalition and others over the past two years have been pushing the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to move quickly to enact rules against Pacific fishermen removing fins from sharks caught in long-line fishing gear and dumping the rest of the carcass.
The council, which manages waters 3 to 200 miles from Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, is discussing the issue and has said it is waiting for a National Marine Fisheries Service survey on the stock of blue sharks due in spring 2000 before passing any rules.
Council members question whether the Pacific blue shark has been overfished over the past decade. It also must consider what is best not just for Hawaii but for the territories under its jurisdiction.
Last month, the council set quotas for the number of sharks Hawaii's long-line fishing fleet can reel in. About 60,000 sharks accidentally caught in long-line gear were killed for their fins.
The state Legislature this past May failed to pass a bill that would have banned shark finning in Hawaiian waters, prompting proponents to petition U.S. Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley in August to impose a ban on the practice in the Pacific Ocean.
That petition has been received and a response is expected within two to four months, Endreson said.
U.S. Resolution 189, introduced by U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham, R-Calif., states it is the sense of Congress that shark finning is a "wasteful and unsportsmanlike practice" that could lead to overfishing of the shark resources. It urges the council, the state of Hawaii, and the fisheries service to promptly and permanently end the practice in all U.S. waters.
Finally, the measure said the secretary of state should continue to strongly advocate for the coordinated management of sharks and the eventual elimination of shark finning in all other waters.
Nevertheless, if passed by the Senate, the concurrent resolution won't have the power of law and therefore would not supersede council plans to address the issue, said Sylvia Spalding, council spokeswoman. Spalding said Congress would have to pass a law banning it for it to override council action.
Meanwhile, what's important with the passage, Endreson noted, is that what started as a key bill 18 months ago for freshman state Rep. Brian Schatz (D, Makiki) has now become an issue for Congress to tackle.
