Wetpixel friend and member Neil Hammerschlag has alerted us that the state of North Carolina is considering relaxing their ban on shark finning.  According to the Ocean Conservancy:

“The U.S. was one of the first countries in the world to ban shark finning (the wasteful practice of slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body back to the sea).  Shark finning prohibitions were first adopted for the U.S. Atlantic and, with your help, have spread to the U.S. Pacific, many other countries, and most of the world’s international waters.

But now North Carolina commercial fishermen are attempting to reverse this progress by relaxing shark finning rules. We need your help to block this troubling maneuver. Lawmakers need to hear that the public, especially those from North Carolina, still strongly opposes the finning of sharks. Please take action today by urging your U.S. Senators to keep the shark finning ban strong.”

Click through to read more about it, and email your representative.  Click the blue button to “take action.” This is especially important if you are in North Carolina, however if you are from out of state, you can still email your representative as a concerned visitor to N.C.