Media Advisory - Pending Victory: Canada poised to ban shark fin trade this week
Jun 18, 2019, 08:20 ET
Bill C-68 expected to pass final Senate vote Tuesday or Wednesday, HSI/Canada campaign experts available for comment
OTTAWA, June 18, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Humane Society International/Canada is anticipating a landmark victory for sharks in the coming days with the expected passage of Bill C-68, a government bill to amend the Fisheries Act. This Bill includes provisions banning shark finning in Canadian waters and prohibits the import and export of shark fins. The measures incorporate those of Bill S-238, the 'Ban on Shark Fin Importation and Exportation Act', which passed third reading in the Senate and second reading in the House of Commons.
HSI/Canada has been at the forefront of a decade-long campaign to achieve a Canadian prohibition on shark fin trade. In that time, 19 Canadian municipalities prohibited the sale of shark products, while five federal bills and one provincial bill were introduced to ban trade in shark fins.
WHO: Humane Society International/Canada campaign experts.
WHAT: Availability for comment.
WHERE: Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
WHEN: In the lead-up to and following the passage of Bill C-68.
Facts:
- Shark finning is the brutal and ecologically devastating practice of cutting the fin off a shark and throwing the animal back into the ocean to die slowly.
- Sharks are apex predators whose survival affects all other marine species and entire ocean ecosystems.
- An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year, largely to fill global demand for shark fins.
- Canada has been the largest importer of shark fins outside of Asia, importing approximately 150,000 kg of shark fins in 2018 alone.
- 81 percent of Canadians support a ban on the import of shark fins into Canada (Environics, 2013).
- 19 Canadian municipalities have banned the sale of shark fin products: Abbotsford, Brantford, Coquitlam, Duncan, Delta, City of Langley, Township of Langley, London, Maple Ridge, Nanaimo, Newmarket, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Cochrane, Oakville, Pickering, Pitt Meadows, Port Moody and White Rock.
- Countries such as the Bahamas, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the Marshall Islands, Egypt and French Polynesia have bans on the sale of most or all shark fin products. Several US states also have banned the sale and trade of shark fin products, including California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Oregon and the territory of Guam.
Humane Society International/Canada is a leading force for animal protection, with active programs in companion animals, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammal preservation, farm animal welfare and animals in research. HSI/Canada is proud to be a part of Humane Society International which, together with its partners, constitutes one of the world's largest animal protection organizations. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty worldwide - on the Web at www.hsicanada.ca
SOURCE Humane Society International/Canada
For further information: Media Contact: Christopher Paré, office: 514 395-2914 x 206, cell: 438 402-0643, email: [email protected]