{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1456-115/featured_shark-fin-sales-elimination-act-of-2017-1543249412.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1456-115/featured_large_shark-fin-sales-elimination-act-of-2017-1543249412.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1456-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-03-09","title_override":"Does the U.S. Need to Stop the Domestic Shark Fin Trade?","summary_override":"

This bill would make it illegal to possess, trade, distribute, sell, or purchase shark fins in the U.S. and also prohibit their import or export. It would also establish penalties for shark finning under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Under current law, shark finning — the practice of cutting off the fins of a shark to sell them as food — is illegal in U.S. waters and has been since 2000, though buying, selling, or possessing shark fins is allowed. After the fins are removed, oftentimes the shark is thrown back into the sea where it will drown, bleed to death, or be eaten by other ocean creatures.

There would be an exemption for people who have a shark fin that was obtained legally under a state, territorial, or federal license as long as the fin is taken from the shark to be:

Destroyed or discarded;
Retained by the license holder and not sold;
Used — but not sold — for subsistence purposes in compliance with state or territorial law;
Used solely for display or research purposes by a museum, college, university, or other person granted a permit to conduct scientific research.

","official_title":"To prohibit the sale of shark fins, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2017","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2017\n\nThis bill makes it illegal to possess, buy, or sell shark fins or any product containing shark fins.A person may possess a shark fin that was lawfully taken consistent with a license or permit under certain circumstances.\n\n Penalties areimposedfor violations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Sharks; people who buy or sell shark fins; and the federal government.","argument_for":"Shark finning is a barbaric practice and the U.S. needs to do what it can to stop it by making the sale or purchase of shark fins illegal.","argument_against":"If the U.S. tries to stop the shark fin trade by making it illegal to buy or sell fins, the trade will still persist by moving to the black market.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr1456-115","bill_id":"hr1456-115","formal_id":"H.R. 1456","chamber":"house","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2018-04-17T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/1456","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115hr1456ih/html/BILLS-115hr1456ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1456-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/1456/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2017-03-09","related_bill_ids":["hr2463-115","s793-115"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":980,"committees":[{"name":"Water, Oceans, and Wildlife","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSII13","subcommittee":true},{"name":"Committee on Natural Resources","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSII","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr1456-115","details":"/api/bills/hr1456-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr1456-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr1456-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr1456-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":258,"slug":"hr1456-115-shark-fin-sales-elimination-act-of-2017","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":7540,"yea_vote_count":7088,"nay_vote_count":425,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["food-and-agriculture","government","animals"],"issue_ids":["food-and-agriculture","oceans","government","fishing-and-hunting","animals"],"sponsor_id":257}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"food-and-agriculture","name":"Food & Agriculture","slug":"food-and-agriculture","description":"Federal regulations and laws impacting US Agriculture - research, practices, conservation and food safety. 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Bills can encompass government administration, regulation of political parties, the US postal service, US territories and public contracts.","page_title":"US Government - Federal legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/black_government-1453508811.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/grey_government-1453508811.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/white_government-1453508811.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"fishing-and-hunting","name":"Fishing & Hunting","slug":"fishing-and-hunting","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Fishing & Hunting. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.\r\n","page_title":"Fishing & Hunting Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/fishing-and-hunting/black_fishing-and-hunting-1432148244.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/fishing-and-hunting/grey_fishing-and-hunting-1432148244.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/fishing-and-hunting/white_fishing-and-hunting-1432148244.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"animals","name":"Animals","slug":"animals","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Animals including animal protection, endangered species, livestock and wildlife conservation. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.","page_title":"Animal Protection, Endangered Species and Wildlife Conservation Bills - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/animals/black_animals-1429042041.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/animals/grey_animals-1429042041.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/animals/white_animals-1429042041.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Paige","vote_count":55,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/10212146558198078/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/10212146558198078/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/10212146558198078/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/10212146558198078/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/BWYlgMY9/following","followers":"/api/users/BWYlgMY9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":"Rribbit","facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":6,"is_following":null,"influence_score":60,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":1,"following_count":0,"position_count":21,"id":"BWYlgMY9","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"e496cf91-33bf-47c9-9c90-1e9e32af1032","argument_for":"We do not need to allow this sort of barbaric hunting of an important predator to the ocean ecosystem just to satisfy the tastes of Southeast Asia and China. 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Does the U.S. Need to Stop the Domestic Shark Fin Trade?