Oregon Protects Sharks

The Oregon House of Representatives has passed a bill that will prohibit people from selling, trading, distributing, and even possessing shark fins. “This unanimous vote… sends a strong message that Oregon will not tolerate the cruel and wasteful practices of shark finning,” says Scott Beckstead, senior director for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in Oregon. According to HSUS, more than 73 million sharks are killed each year due to people harvesting shark fins for food; the practice usually involves slicing off a shark’s fin and throwing the animal back into the ocean where it bleeds or suffocates to death. Should this bill pass the state’s Senate, Oregon will join Hawaii in being the second state to ban shark finning.