Kerry's shark protection bill passed [View All]

[karynnj]

Coburn had been holding it hostage because it had a cost - that they found an offset for.

The Senate passed a landmark shark conservation bill Monday that would close loopholes that had allowed the lucrative shark fin trade to continue operations off the West Coast.

The measure would require any vessel to land sharks with their fins attached prevent non-fishing vessels from transporting fins without their carcasses. The practice of cutting off a shark's fins and dumping its body overboard, which is now banned off the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico but not the Pacific, has expanded worldwide due to rising demand for shark's fin soup in Asia.

"Shark finning has fueled massive population declines and irreversible disruption of our oceans," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), the bill's author, in a statement. "Finally we've come through with a tough approach to tackle this serious threat to our marine life."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/20/AR2010122004046.html

Not New Start, but a good bill.