California's Fin Ban Explained

Shawn Heinrichs

WHY DO PROBLEMS EXISTS DESPITE A FIN LAW?

First of all, let’s acknowledge that having a fin ban in place was a massive achievement and it has addressed many of the problems. It was also a catalyst to move other state-level fin bans in US forward. The goal must be to make the product illegal, even if it doesn’t address every single underlying problem. As with all contraband, the trade is driven by people that do not shy away from doing things illegally and the value of the product is an incentive to cheat and take higher risks. 

The reality is that the more simplified the enforcement, the more effective. Not allowing the open, legal trade still means the volume gets cut down greatly. Because when any discovery of shark fins can easily be determined as illegal, no matter where it was caught, what species it came from or under which permit it was caught, then the law is black and white. The grey areas are cut down to a minimum. It is easy to get angry about loopholes and blame the imperfections of the law. But what we really need to look at is whether there really is a gap in the law, potentially with exemptions or weak penalties, or whether we are dealing with a lack of enforcement.  

There are fin trade bans in 14 states in the US, three US territories, some Pacific Island Nations and Canada. Most Central and South American countries do not have protections for sharks in place and do not ban the trade of fins. This creates a market push from the supply side, that finds pathways to move their fins through legal and semi-legal ports. The way a state interprets their state laws over federal or international commerce laws sometime creates a situation where state agencies do not want to deal with cargo that passes through, as they consider it cargo that is destined for other states or countries. So essentially, they either can’t or don’t want to exert their state authority over commerce that isn’t meant for the state. Whether that is a legal or an enforcement problem is something that needs to be looked at state by state. In theory, if state law could not override commerce laws, then any contraband and illegal substance could be legal to be shipped through our ports, as long as it is destined for somewhere else. Surely, this is not accepted for drugs. Why is it accepted for fins? Is there truly a legal problem? It seems part of the challenge is that there is too much cargo to check and transshipments, especially bonded cargo (containers that do not get opened but stay locked) get ignored. As of March 2017, 92% of states in the US had shark fins passing through their local ports.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the ban is enforced by inspecting restaurants, markets, and fishing vessels throughout California. However, if there's enforcement then why are some restaurants in still serving shark fin soup? The law clearly states that restaurants were only exempt until January 1, 2013. No soup sales should be legal after that date. Again, there might be a sneaky way someone has found to get through some permitted loophole, but more likely, the law is just being ignored because the likelihood of being caught and punished is small. That could be because enforcement officers are over-phased and spread too thin, having to deal with lots of different wildlife contraband in many locations. And it’s also possible that the fines are low enough to take the risk.

This means that, while a fin trade ban doesn’t address all shark conservation problems, it is still one of the best tools we have in the fight against the fin trade, at least on our end. Sure, the biggest problem is the demand in South East Asia. And that is something that many great groups, such as WildAid, have been targeting and changing in the last decade. But that doesn’t lift our responsibility to do what we can to address our part in it. Not knocking it out of the park with one swing (passing the law) doesn’t mean it isn’t the path to take. It means that we have to be realistic and accept the fact that we have to continue the work in phases, building capacity and enforcement after the law has been put in place.  

SO WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

We are going to work with partner organizations to determine where the problems lie and what actions we, as citizens and conservation groups, can take. Stand by for a plan and action items coming soon. To find out what restaurants have been reported as listing shark fin on their menu, check out the AWI database. If one of these restaurants is near you, visit the establishment and check out their menu. If they sell shark fin soup, make the call and turn them in.