The shark fin trade is now banned in Delaware

Governor Jack Markell signed House Bill 41 last week.  Shark fins are not allowed to be sold, traded, or possessed with the borders of the state of Delaware.  We do not a have a shark finning problem per se, but just by selling these fins on the market contributes to the ongoing global issues of shark finning.  In other countries shark finning is the practice of catching a shark, removing the fins, and dumping the body overboard as waste.  That is just sickening, especially to someone (me) whom is known as a tree hugger by close friends.  Kudos to Governor Markell for signing this bill.  We may be a small state but we have an excellent fishery, that is fished and followed world wide (thanks in part to this website).  Delaware is the seventh state to ban the shark fin trade.  I love to fish, as many of you already know, and catching sharks last year for DSU’s research was a blast.  However, these animals are very important to our ocean’s ecology.  Reductions in some shark populations have hit over 90%, and that is a sickening number.  If that number were in any other fishery people would be freaking out for something to be done, like the striped bass.  Thank you Governor Markell for signing this important bill, I couldn’t be prouder to be a Delaware Angler, than I am right now.  You are welcome to share a spot in the sandbox with DSF any day.  Thank you again sir.

Fish On!!

Rich King