Sharksavers reports that earlier this week, the Washington state legislature introduced a bill to ban the shark fin trade. This bill prohibits the possession of trade in shark fins, similar to the groundbreaking Hawaii law. A pdf of the text of SB 5688 can be seen here.

The legislation is moving with lightning speed. A public hearing is scheduled for this coming Monday, Feb 14, 1:30pm PST in the Natural Committee Resources Hearing Room (Rm 2 J.A. Cherberg Building Olympia, WA).

If you live in Washington and can appear in person to provide testimony, please do. No matter where you live, your emailed testimony can make a great difference in encouraging the senators to act in favor of this bill.

The hearing notice is here.

If you would be able to go to the hearing to testify in person, this would have the most impact. If this is possibility, we’ll be happy to help you prepare a statement or even prepare one for you to read.

Written testimony can be sent to the Members of the Natural Resources & Marine Waters Committee. Testimony should be addressed to Senator Kevin Ranker, chairman of the Natural Resources and Marine Waters committee. And it should be sent to ALL committee members.

Senator Kevin Ranker
Senator Debbie Regala
Senator Bob Morton
Senator Jim Hargrove
Senator Val Stevens
Senator Dan Swecker

Please also cc your testimony to the committee staffer Curt Gavigan and to iho so that we can track the testimonies in case the committee has any follow-up questions. so that we can track the testimonies in case the committee has any follow-up questions.

To speed things up, you can just cut & paste the following email addresses:

To:
ranker.kevin@leg.wa.gov, regala.debbie@leg.wa.gov, morton.bob@leg.wa.gov, hargove.jim@leg.wa.gov, stevens.val@leg.wa.gov, swecker.dan@leg.wa.gov

cc:
Gavigan.Curt@leg.wa.gov, iho@hsi.org

RE: Senate Bill 5688 Concerning Shark Finning Activities

Honorable members of the Senate,

As a longtime advocate for the health of our oceans and out planet, I respectfully submit this testimony in support of Senate Bill 5688.

Sharks are vital to maintaining balance in our oceans, and the unsustainable trade in shark fins is driving many shark species to the brink of extinction. Washington now has the opportunity to take a stand against this destruction.

Please vote in support of SB 5688. The world and future generations will thank you.

Thank you very much for considering my testimony. I sincerely hope that you will give your full support to Senate Bill 5688.

Best Regards,