Elizabeth May’s first bill could spell the end of shark fin on restaurant bills.

The MP for Saanich-Gulf Island tabled C-417, hoping to amend the Fish Inspection Act and Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act in the hopes of curtailing the unregulated importing of shark fin to Canada.

“My efforts to get a shark fin ban actually started because of my constituents. A group of local divers formed a group to press for protection for sharks,” May said. “The consumption is driving the practice is driving multiple species of sharks to the brink of extinction. It is important to me to come back [to the Peninsula] because this is where I started.”

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May’s first Private Member’s Bill is designed to spell the end of the shark fin trade in Canada.  “This bill complements other anti-shark fin measures in Canada.  I am grateful for the support of other groups across the country who are also working on this issue,” said May.

Eleven US states have bans on shark fin products.  In Canada, bans are being instituted at the municipal level: Toronto, Mississauga, and Brantford, ON, have passed laws and Port Moody, BC, is in the process of drafting a bylaw.

“Currently, we have no idea where shark fin products come from; the trade is completely unregulated.  Because we don’t know how the vast majority of sharks die in the world, there is no way to regulate them.  By requiring the labelling of imported shark products with the country of harvest, we believe this legislation would essentially kill the trade,” said May.

In 1998, bans were instituted against the importation of bear gallbladders, elephant ivory, and rhino horns.  The Greens hope shark fins will be next.

“This bill, if fully implemented, will be the most far-reaching national legislation on shark fin in the western world,” said Rob Sinclair, Executive Director of WildAid Canada, who has been at the forefront of the Canadian campaign to stop shark finning.

Alisa Preston, PADI Master Instructor representing the local diving community in Victoria, BC, collected thousands of names on a petition to stop shark finning.  “It is wonderful to see our initiative being translated into proposed legislation.  We thank Elizabeth and the Green Party for being so responsive to the concerns of local people and for standing up for sharks.”

Despite the fact that almost a third of open-ocean shark species are currently threatened with extinction, over 73 million sharks are poached for their fins each year.  Sharks are a vital species in the food chain and, with each shark only producing one or two offspring per year, species are slow to recover from hunting.  Scientists have been ringing alarm bells for years about the precariousness of shark populations, some of which are experiencing a 99% decline.

Shark finning is a cruel and wasteful practice.  Struggling sharks have their fins brutally cut off and then are dumped overboard where, unable to swim, they either drown or starve to death.  The fins fetch a high price and are used to make soup and other food products. 

“Shark fins also contain a dangerous level of mercury and other heavy metals.  Stopping the trade of shark fins is not only good for the sharks, but also good for people,” said May. 

Bill C-417 amends the Fish Inspection Act to add a requirement that, if a person is importing shark or shark product, the country of harvest and the common name of the shark must be indicated, in writing, to an inspector. It also amends the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act to prohibit the sale or importation of shark and shark product unless it is prepackaged and labelled to show certain information, including a statement that it may be unfit for human consumption due to mercury contamination.

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Back in her B.C. riding, Elizabeth May will talk to the media today about her private members’ bill to end domestic shark fin sales. May says that by putting the proper regulatory controls in place, the “inherently cruel” and “wasteful” trade can be stopped. A number of jurisdictions around the world are banning the practice, which usually leads to death for the shark that has been stripped of its fin.

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Eating shark fins is not only devastating the world’s shark populations, it is also bad for people’s health and Canadians should be aware of the implications of tucking in to a bowl of shark fin soup, says Green party leader Elizabeth May.

The Saanich-Gulf Islands MP will hold a news conference today to give details of a private member’s bill she plans to introduce in Parliament.

Campaigns are already underway in B.C. to get the soup, seen as a status symbol in some Asian communities, off of menus.

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Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Elizabeth May has introduced a private member’s bill in Parliament designed to make the import of shark fins impossible under current industry conditions.

The bill would change Canada’s labelling and importing laws to make it mandatory for imports to include the type of shark and where it was caught — something that is not tracked by the vast majority of shark fisheries.

“This bill proposes a small change that will have a huge result,” the Green Party leader said in a statement. “By putting in place proper regulatory controls on shark fin sales, we will essentially stop the trade of shark fins.”

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She said: Mr. Speaker, today is my first opportunity to present a private member’s bill in the House. This one is very complementary to other legislation in the House dealing with the ongoing and devastating practice of the finning of sharks for the purpose of one type of rare and prized dish accepted in Chinese culture. Shark fin soup is leading to the actual extinction of shark species around the planet. Over 70 million individual sharks a year are killed for this practice.

This bill attempts to help consumers through proper labelling. By focusing on labelling, I will be clear that the intent of the bill is to assist in the ending of the practice of trade and consumption of shark fins. In brief, the bill deals with the fact that as a high-end predator on the food chain, shark fins are contaminated with high levels of mercury. Currently, there is no warning of that in the consumption of sharks. It is also very important that the country of origin be labelled.

Through this labelling effort, the hope is that the practice will become more difficult and in fact come to an end.

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This enactment amends the Fish Inspection Act to add a requirement that, if a person is importing shark or shark product, the country of harvest and the common name of the shark must be indicated, in writing, to an inspector. It also amends the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act to prohibit the sale or importation of shark and shark product unless it is prepackaged and labelled to show certain information, including a statement that it may be unfit for human consumption due to mercury contamination.

Preamble

Whereas mercury and other heavy metals are dangerous environmental contaminants, with grave consequences for human health if consumed in high concentrations;

Whereas numerous scientific studies have identified dangerous levels of mercury and other heavy metals in some shark fin products that make them unfit for human consumption and a food safety risk;

Whereas it is of critical importance to Canadian consumers to have all necessary information about the products they consume presented in an accessible and transparent manner, in order to make informed decisions about health and diet;

Whereas due primarily to the pressures caused by overfishing, global shark populations are collapsing, and a 2011 study by Mizue et al. concluded that, “overfishing of sharks is now recognized as a major global conservation concern, with increasing numbers of shark species added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of threatened species”;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Fish Inspection Act

1. The Fish Inspection Act is amended by adding the following after section 3:

Shark importation

3.1 (1) A person who imports shark or shark product shall provide written indication to an inspector of (a) the country of harvest of the shark, regardless of whether it is wild-caught; and (b) the common name of the species and subspecies of shark.

Country of harvest

(2) For the purposes of this section, “country of harvest” includes, in circumstances where the shark is harvested outside the territorial waters of a particular country, the geographic location in which the shark was harvested. R.S., c. C-38

Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act

2. The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act is amended by adding the following after section 4:

Shark and shark product

4.1 (1) No dealer shall sell or import into Canada any shark or shark product unless it is prepackaged and has applied to it a label that, in addition to complying with any other requirements of this Act, shows (a) the shark’s common or generic name; (b) the shark’s country of harvest; and (c) the following statement: “Shark and shark products may be unfit for human consumption due to mercury contamination. Le requin et les produits de requin peuvent être impropres à la consommation humaine en raison de la contamination par le mercure.”

Country of harvest

(2) For the purposes of this section, “country of harvest” includes, in circumstances where the shark is harvested outside the territorial waters of a particular country, the geographic location in which the shark was harvested.

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The bill would amend the Fish Inspection Act to prohibit the importation of shark fins into Canada, and would make into law a prohibition on shark finning in Canadian waters.

Sharks are top predators and play a key role in maintaining ocean health. Their populations are plummeting around the world. Scientists report that up to 73 million sharks are killed annually for their fins, often by finning, a horrific practice in which the fins are severed from the shark and the shark’s body is discarded at sea.

In 2009, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported that over one-third of all shark species are threatened with extinction as a result of shark finning.

The best way to curb illegal finning is to stop the international trade in shark fins. Canada can become a world leader in shark conservation and ocean stewardship by adopting legislation to protect sharks.

I hope all members of the House will support this legislation.

Seconded by Elizabeth May December 12, 2011.

Click here for the entire document

Interventions in the House of Commons: September 26, 2011, October 28, 2011

How you can help

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Ms. May had been planning a private members  bill on this issue, but is happy to support NDP MP Fin Donnelly’s  recently announced effort, if it comes to the House before her bill.

“Shark finning is an issue that many of my constituents feel strongly about as they are concerned about the drastic decline in shark populations worldwide.  I am pleased to present their views to  Parliament and hope they will be given due consideration and taken up in committee,” said May. “There are already restrictions against catching  sharks in Canadian waters so the next step would be to stop any trade in shark fins.”

The petition calls for a ban on the possession, trade, distribution or sale of shark fins in Canada.  At a press conference earlier this month, the group’s  representative, Alisa Preston, explained, “Sharks are declining in  numbers at an alarming rate, threatening the stability of the oceans’ ecosystem.  Every year, as many as seventy million sharks are caught,  stripped of their fins and thrown back into the sea, often alive, to  slowly sink and either drown or be eaten by other fish.  It is a wholly  unnecessary and solely profit driven slaughter.”

Shark fins are used mostly for a high priced soup, considered a delicacy though shark fins have no nutritional value and are essentially tasteless.  Due to overfishing, 90% of the world’s large shark populations have already been wiped out.  The International Union for  the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that more than a quarter of shark species left are threatened with extinction and another 20% are ‘near  threatened’ with the northeast Atlantic population particularly  vulnerable.

Many countries have already banned shark finning.  In the United States, the shark finning ban started with President Bill Clinton and was strengthened this year by President Barack Obama with the Shark Conservation Act.

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The petition, organized by local scuba divers in Victoria, BC, calls for a ban on the possession, trade, distribution or sale of shark fins in Canada.  The group’s representative, Alisa Preston, explained, “Sharks are declining in numbers at an alarming rate, threatening the stability of the oceans’ecosystem.  Every year, as many as seventy million sharks are caught, stripped of their fins and thrown back into the sea, often alive, to slowly sink and either drown or be eaten by other fish.  It is a wholly unnecessary and solely profit driven slaughter.”

Shark fins are used mostly for a high priced soup, considered a delicacy though shark fins have no nutritional value and are essentially tasteless.  Due to overfishing, 90% of the world’s large shark populations have already been wiped out.  The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that more than a quarter of shark species left are threatened with extinction and another 20% are ‘near threatened’ with the northeast Atlantic population particularly vulnerable.

Many countries have already banned shark finning.  In the United States, the shark finning ban started with Bill Clinton and was strengthened this year by Barack Obama with the Shark Conservation Act.

There is still time to sign the petition, available at www.divepro.ca .  Petition sheets can be mailed postage free to Elizabeth May’s office (Address: House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6).

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