WHEREAS shark fin harvesting is an inhumane and wasteful practice serving a very narrow and sometimes criminal marketplace; AND WHEREAS shark fin harvesting, by taking large and increasing numbers of an apex species whose reduction in the ocean eco-system has significant impacts upon other species: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM call on the provincial government to implement a province-wide ban on the possession, sale, and distribution of shark fin; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the federal government ban the import of shark fin into Canada.
Ministry of Agriculture The Province recognizes that there is some public concern with the harvesting and the practice of finning large pelagic sharks and is supportive of the federal ban on the practice of finning in domestic waters, which has been in place since 1994. The Province is not currently contemplating a province-wide ban on the possession, sale and distribution of shark fin; however, local governments are free to explore a bylaw to enact bans within their respective municipal jurisdictions, as some UBCM member municipalities have already chosen to do.