Florida was one of the first states to ban the practice known as "shark finning"... but members of the Florida Wildlife Commission are expressing doubts about a national ban on the sale and possession of shark fins.
Jerry Sansom with the Organized Fishermen of Florida says it won't help the sharks and could put hundreds of Florida boats out of business." To think that we can control or significantly influence the world's market on shark fins with less than one percent of either the market or the purchase is really very naive, and would hurt a lot of good people, with no benefit at all," he said.
But supporters of the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act say Florida is still a major part of the problem and they claim a national ban is the best way to help the shark population recover from years of overfishing.
The FWC did not take a formal position on the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act in Congress... but several members spoke out against it.