The Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016

114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3095

        To prohibit sale of shark fins, and for other purposes.
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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2016

 Mr. Booker (for himself, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. McCain, Ms. 
 Cantwell, and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following bill; which was 
  read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation
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                                 A BILL

        To prohibit sale of shark fins, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF SHARK FINS.

    (a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in section 3, no person shall 
possess, trade, distribute, ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, 
purchase, import, or export shark fins or products containing shark 
fins.
    (b) Penalty.--For purposes of section 308(a) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a 
violation of this section shall be treated as an act prohibited by 
section 307 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1857).

SEC. 3. EXCEPTIONS.

    A person may possess a shark fin that was taken lawfully under a 
State, territorial, or Federal license or permit to take or land 
sharks, if the shark fin is separated from the shark in a manner 
consistent with the license or permit and is--
            (1) destroyed or discarded;
            (2) retained by the license or permit holder for a 
        noncommercial purpose;
            (3) used for noncommercial subsistence purposes in 
        accordance with State or territorial law; or
            (4) used solely for display or research purposes by a 
        museum, college, or university, or other person under a State 
        or Federal permit to conduct noncommercial scientific research.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Import.--The term ``import'' has the same meaning that 
        term has under section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
        Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802).
            (2) Shark.--The term ``shark''--
                    (A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), means 
                any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) any stock of the species Mustelus canis 
                        (smooth dogfish) or Squalus acanthias (spiny 
                        dogfish) which is managed pursuant to a fishery 
                        management plan prepared under section 303 of 
                        the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
                        Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853); or
                            (ii) any species in the superorder Batoidea 
                        that is managed pursuant to a fishery 
                        management plan prepared under section 303 of 
                        the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
                        Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853).
            (3) Shark fin.--The term ``shark fin'' means the raw, 
        dried, or otherwise processed detached fin of a shark, or the 
        raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached tail of a shark.

SEC. 5. STATE AUTHORITY.

    Nothing in this Act may be construed to preclude, deny, or limit 
any right of a State or territory to adopt or enforce any regulation or 
standard that is more stringent than a regulation or standard in effect 
under this Act.