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On a longline fishing boat off the Galapagos Islands, a concerned biologist working undercover as a cook films a horrifying scene. As the camera rolls, a blue shark is dragged upside down out of the

With allies and supporters, we have been doing all that we can to keep more sharks swimming safely in oceans all over the world. For years, we advocated for the passage of the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, which President Biden signed into law in December 2022, with strong bipartisan support.

Sharks have been around for 450 million years, outliving the dinosaurs and surviving mass extinctions. But now, out of the 500 or so species (that we know of), a third of all sharks and shark-like species are threatened with extinction due to human activity. Some of these species include the unique

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson There was a time when sharks were routinely portrayed by popular media as aggressive and ruthless predators -- animals to be afraid of and to avoid, or even worse, to kill. But today, with growing awareness and increasingly positive public attitudes toward these

Canada, the largest importer of shark fins outside Asia, has passed a landmark bill that includes measures to prohibit the trade in shark fins nationally as well as finning in Canadian waters. Humane Society International/Canada joined Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and the Canadian Coast Guard in

We’ve never cared for the cheap, lurid television programming tied to Shark Week, preferring to join with other groups and media outlets in a celebration of this apex species found in all of the world’s oceans and even sometimes in rivers. Sharks are part of an incredibly diverse taxon, a cluster of

At a time when bipartisanship can be unpredictable in politics, it’s particularly gratifying to recognize four lawmakers who have joined together to advance one of the most urgent animal protection measures in the Congress, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act. This week, we’re honoring Senate bill

A bad reputation can mean the difference between life and death for animals, and nowhere is this clearer than for sharks. Sharks may be depicted as terrifying animals in films like “Jaws,” but the true tale of horror is how humans have treated shark species for centuries across the world. This year

The U.S. House just said a decisive and resounding “no” to the terrible shark fin trade, in which fishermen cut the fins off sharks and dump them back into the waters to drown, be eaten alive by other fish, or bleed to death. House members voted 310 to 107 to pass the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act

Update 12/23/22: President Biden has signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, which removes the U.S. from the cruel shark fin trade and helps to combat wildlife trafficking. There have been some massive wins for animals recently in the U.S., as the Congress acts to pass some

A bill to end all commercial trade in the United States of shark fins and shark fin products was reintroduced in the U.S. House today. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, H.R. 2811, already enjoys great support in Congress and a previous version passed the House during the last session by an

By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson The 116 th Congress began work today on rooting out some of the worst forms of animal cruelty in the world, with House members reintroducing two important bipartisan bills. One would ban malicious acts of animal cruelty and bestiality, and the other would prohibit

What is shark finning? The word “finning” refers to the act of cutting off a shark’s fins and throwing the rest of the often still-living animal back into the sea. The vast majority of finned sharks bleed to death, or become prey for other sharks. A shark cannot be “finned” at port, as the term

New Jersey could soon join the growing ranks of states that have banned the inhumane shark fin trade. A bill banning the sale and trade of shark fins last night passed the Assembly, and is now on its way to the governor’s desk for his signature. The Assembly vote of 54 to 19 followed a Senate vote

Every year, millions of sharks suffer painful deaths from the cruel and wasteful shark fin trade. Whether unintended "bycatch" by or caught specifically for their valuable fins, these animals have their fins removed and then—either dead or dying—are immediately cast back into the water. Shark meat