2017 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 41st Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

MS. SONIA FURSTENAU

BILL M 207 – 2017

FISH AND SEAFOOD AMENDMENT ACT, 2017

Sharks, or elasmobranchs , are critical to the health of the ocean ecosystem. They occupy the top of the marine food chain and their decline is an urgent problem that upsets the balance of species in ocean ecosystems and negatively affects other fisheries. It constitutes a serious threat to the ocean ecosystem and biodiversity.

Sharks are particularly susceptible to decline due to overfishing because they are slow to reach reproductive maturity, birth small litters, and cannot rebuild their populations quickly once they are overfished. The practice of shark finning, where a shark is caught, its fins cut off, and the carcass dumped back into the water, causes tens of millions of sharks to die each year. Sharks starve to death, may be slowly eaten by other fish, or drown because most sharks need to keep moving to force water through their gills for oxygen.

Data from federal and international agencies show a decline in shark populations worldwide. British Columbia is a market for shark fin and this demand helps drive the practice of shark finning. The market also drives shark declines. By impacting the demand for shark fins, British Columbia can help ensure that sharks do not become extinct as a result of shark finning. This Bill seeks to restrict the possession and distribution of shark fins within B.C.

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 1 of the Fish and Seafood Act, S.B.C. 2015, c. 14, is amended by adding the following

definitions:

"shark" means any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii ;

"shark fin" means the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached fin, or the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached tail, of a shark; .

Section 6 (1) of the Act is amended

(

a) in paragraph (

a) by striking out " party, or " and substituting " party, ",

(

b) in paragraph (

b) by striking out " unsustainable. " and substituting " unsustainable, or ", and

(

c) by adding the following paragraph:

(

c) constitute shark fins.

Explanatory Note

Sharks, or elasmobranchs , are critical to the health of the ocean ecosystem. They occupy the top of the marine food chain and their decline is an urgent problem that upsets the balance of species in ocean ecosystems and negatively affects other fisheries. It constitutes a serious threat to the ocean ecosystem and biodiversity.

Sharks are particularly susceptible to decline due to overfishing because they are slow to reach reproductive maturity, birth small litters, and cannot rebuild their populations quickly once they are overfished. The practice of shark finning, where a shark is caught, its fins cut off, and the carcass dumped back into the water, causes tens of millions of sharks to die each year. Sharks starve to death, may be slowly eaten by other fish, or drown because most sharks need to keep moving to force water through their gills for oxygen.

Data from federal and international agencies show a decline in shark populations worldwide. British Columbia is a market for shark fin and this demand helps drive the practice of shark finning. The market also drives shark declines. By impacting the demand for shark fins, British Columbia can help ensure that sharks do not become extinct as a result of shark finning. This Bill seeks to restrict the possession and distribution of shark fins within B.C.

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