Bill Text: HI SB2169 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Possession, Sale, and Distribution of Shark Fins

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-05-28 - (H) Act 148, on 5/28/2010 (Gov. Msg. No. 365). [SB2169 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SB2169-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2566

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2169

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 2169, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SHARK FINS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the possession, sale, and distribution of shark fins in Hawaii.

 

     When shark fins are harvested, the shark is caught, the fin is cut off, and the shark is returned to the water to die a slow death.  This results in tens of millions of shark deaths each year.  Unlike other fish species, sharks do not reach the age of sexual maturity until seven to twelve years of age and then only give birth to a small litter of young.  Sharks are apex marine predators and play a key role in the ecosystem of the ocean; without them other species would overpopulate, causing an imbalance in ocean life.

 

     Your Committee finds that shark finning has been deemed to be cruelty to animals and that current federal and state law is ineffective with deterring the practice.  Your Committee has concerns about the statutory construction of this measure, however, and believes the measure should continue to be evaluated and discussed further as it moves through the legislative process.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050 to promote further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2169, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2169, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations,

 

		____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair