Let your voice be heard

[Sushi Boy]

There is a Bill moving through the Texas Legislature right now which seeks to prohibit the sale, trade, and purchase of shark fins in Texas. Although it is federally illegal to fin sharks in USA waters they are still being poached out of the Gulf and this bill seeks to tighten and prohibit any trading of fins in Texas. Please contact your Texas House and Senate reps to urge them to support these bills.

Austin Business Journal article: Shark fin soup could be off the menu in Texas

It is House Bill 852, Senate Bill 572. It is a bipartisan bill introduced by Representative Eddie Lucio III (D) and Senator Larry Taylor (R). Text of the bill can be found here.

You can find your representatives at the following site:
Who Represents Me--Home


Please ask your LDS and dive clubs to help spread the word about this as well!

 

[Sushi Boy]

Update from Austin:

The shark fin bill has passed through Senate Committee and is passing through the House Committee to go the House for a full vote.

Please contact your representatives and ask them to support the bills.

 

[Sushi Boy]

An update from the folks at Shark Stewards.

If everyone could follow the link to send a letter, it would be a huge help.

If you want to have a bigger impact, please take a few minutes and make the phone calls mentioned below. I was able to call the entire list in less than 15 minutes.

Please help get the word out as well - repost on your clubs & LDS websites and social media. The more people the Representatives hear from, the better!



PLEASE HELP! This is urgent. As you know, we've been working for over 9 months to introduce and pass legislation to protect sharks in Texas. Our shark finning bill has passed through the House committee, but it is now stuck in the Calendars committee and cannot move to the House floor for a full vote due to pushback from a very small group of individuals. Some of you have gone to great efforts to get us this far, and we are so grateful. Thanks to your overwhelming support, this bill has progressed much further than most proposed legislation ever does. To think that a few dissenters could halt the process at this point is discouraging - but we are not done yet with this campaign.

I am asking you to take action immediately. This will only take 2 minutes (I just did it myself) and could make the difference. You can open this link to send a personalized letter to the committee members with one click! Show your support now: The Humane Society of the United States: Shark

Also, please join us today in calling the offices of the House Calendars Committee members on behalf of the sharks. I have already provided the phone numbers next to their names.
Suggested language for when you call their office, “My name is X and I am calling to ask the Representative to please set the HB 852 to stop the sale of shark fins in Texas for a vote. It is in the Calendars committee now and this bill has such widespread support from across the state. It deserves a full vote on the floor. Please set this bill today.”
If you can carve out 30 minutes today to make these calls, you could help save the bill. We need everyone below to get calls, except for Representative Lucio. He is our bill sponsor so he is already on board!
Chair:
Rep. Todd Hunter (512) 463-0672
Vice Chair:
Rep. Eddie Lucio III

Members:
Rep. Roberto R. Alonzo (512) 463-0408
Rep. Carol Alvarado (512) 463-0732
Rep. Dan Branch (512) 463-0367
Rep. Angie Chen Button (512) 463-0486
Rep. Byron Cook (512) 463-0730
Rep. Myra Crownover (512) 463-0582
Rep. Sarah Davis (512) 463-0389
Rep. Craig Eiland (512) 463-0502
Rep. John Frullo (512) 463-0676
Rep. Charlie Geren (512) 463-0610
Rep. Helen Giddings (512) 463-0953
Rep. John Kuempel (512) 463-0602
Rep. Doug Miller (512) 463-0325

---------- Post added April 29th, 2013 at 02:32 PM ----------

Well done folks! Just got this from Anna at Shark Stewards:

"Katie Jarl from HSUS just called to say that due to the overwhelming response of shark advocates like you, the House Calendars committee has scheduled the shark bill for a House vote THIS FRIDAY.
We'll be in touch with more info soon, but I wanted you to be the first to know that you on the front lines have made all the difference. There will probably be some opposition mobilizing this week, so it is imperative that we all get our lists organized and spread the word to every Texan to call their representative in support of HB 852.

IT MADE A DIFFERENCE THAT WE ALL CALLED ON THE SAME DAY, so get ready to ask everyone you can to call THIS THURSDAY. I'll send you our action alert first thing on Thursday morning.

We are so close. Let's keep it up!"

 

[Sushi Boy]

There's a big vote in the Texas House of Representatives on Friday and we need your help calling to voice support.

"Shark Stewards and Friends:

Because of your overwhelming response last Friday, the Calendars Committee had no choice but to move our shark finning bill, HB 852, to the House floor for a vote. THIS IS HUGE. The bill has been set for a full vote on the House floor THIS FRIDAY, May 3.

I'm going to ask you join me once again in keeping this bill alive. Today, YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU, THE CONSTITUENT. Please take a few minutes to call your state Representatives, as well as any other state Representatives you may have close relationships with, right now.

All you have to say is, "I am calling to ask you to support sharks by voting YES! on HB 852 tomorrow." You can find out who represents you at this link: http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/find-your-representative/

There are less than 3 weeks left this legislative session and this last push for sharks means so much. If we can get this through the House, it will help a great deal as we move over to the Senate.


It only takes a few short minutes to make a few calls.

Please also share via social media, emails, etc. Let's get the word out!!

 

[Sushi Boy]

"Our shark bill has just officially passed through the House with an overwhelming majority. YOU THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN. A tremendous THANK YOU to all who have lobbied and/or called their House reps.

Next stop, the Senate committee (this week) then the Senate (maybe the week after). THEN, the Governor's office. We've still got some work to do to make it happen. Let's get ready to show the United States what TEXANS are made of. We'll be in touch soon with details on how you can help.

Have a "fin-tastic" weekend!"

 

[Sushi Boy]

We have another hurdle to cross and need your help urgently. Senator Taylor from Houston gave into pressure from the charter fishermen and has dropped his sponsorship of our shark bill. Fortunately, Katie was able to find a new sponsor. (Can you even believe what is involved in keeping a bill alive long enough to become a law???) Our bill goes before the Senate Natural Resources committee @ 9 AM on Tuesday. It needs to pass through the committee before it can move to the Senate floor.

I'm asking you to join me in MAKING A QUICK ROUND OF CALLS to the members of this committee. Just 15 minutes is all it takes. Here are the phone numbers and details on what to say:

“Hi, my name is X and I am calling to ask Sen. X to please vote YES! on HB 852, to ban the sale of shark fins in the state of Texas, tomorrow in the Natural Resources hearing.”

Fraser-R-Horseshoe Bay, IE.12, 512-463-0124
Estes-R-Wichita Falls, IE.9, 512-463-0130
Deuell-R-Greenville, E1.704, 512-463-0102
Duncan-R-Lubbock, 3E.18, 512-463-0128
Ellis- D- Houston, 3E.6, 512-463-0113
Eltife- R-Tyler, 3E.16, 512-463-0101
Hegar- R- Katy, E1.806, 512-463-0118
Nichols- R-Jacksonville, E1.706, 512-463-0103
Seliger- R- Amarillo, GE.4, 512-463-0131
Uresti- D- San Antonio, E1.804, 512-463-0119

 

[Sushi Boy]

Great news folks! The bill had a tough fight in the Senate committee, but has been voted through and now will move to the Senate floor for a full vote.

Stay tuned for more details.

 

[Sushi Boy]

We need your help TODAY folks!!

Our bill HB 852, which would prohibit the shark fin trade in Texas, is scheduled to move to the Senate floor as early as Monday, May 20 at 10 AM. This is the last hurdle before our bill moves to Gov. Rick Perry's desk to be signed.

Delaware just became the 7th state to ban the shark fin trade. Let's make Texas the next state to achieve this monumental act of leadership on behalf of sharks.

We cannot get it there without your support. I'll be straight with you. Since passing the House with a 2/3 majority, HB 852 has faced escalating and stiff opposition from special interests. The sharks need you to help. The Senate is scheduled to vote on our bill as early as 10 AM on Monday, May 20.

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO HELP PASS HISTORIC OCEAN CONSERVATION LEGISLATION TO PROTECT SHARKS.

One phone call or email is all it takes. Contact your state senator(s) RIGHT NOW and ask them to vote "YES! to support HB 852, to ban the sale and consumption of shark fins in Texas."

Open this link and enter your zip code: Who Represents Me--Districts By ZIP Code. Select "Senate" as the District Type. It will open up a contact form. Either call (you can leave a message on their voicemail) or send an email.

It only takes a few short minutes. We need all of the help we can get.

Please repost, email, share via social media, etc.

 

[Sushi Boy]

I am very sorry to have to say that our bill has died on the Senate floor. Sen. Troy Fraser (office phone 512-463-0124) and Sen. Larry Taylor (office phone 512-463-0111) blocked a vote and killed the shark fin bill as soon as it was brought up. With the power of Fraser, those that were on our side didn't even have the chance to vote in support of the bill.

Rest assured that the battle to protect sharks is not over and we will bring this bill back next session. I hope that you will all join me in letting Senators Fraser's and Taylor's offices know that Texans DO support a ban on the sale and consumption of shark fins and Texas MUST take a stand to bring this destructive and non-sustainable practice to an end.

Many people put in a lot of time and effort in getting the bill through many hurdles. Thank you to those of you who spent time contacting your representatives throughout the process to let those in Austin know that Texans do care about the future of our oceans.

 

[skintdigit]

Hi all, I'm new to the board. I do not have any background information on this subject, so please pardon my ignorance if my question doesn't make much sense

What effect might the prohibition of shark fin sales in Texas have upon the harvest(legal or illegal) of the shark species that we seek to protect?

I do not know the facts, but am guessing that the majority of shark fins that are currently sold in Texas are from species that are not threatened by overharvest and whose carcasses, once taken, are utilized primarily for the larger volume of edible flesh on the fish...not just the fins. Would restricting the supply of these fins from plentiful species not provide an increased impetus for the illegal trade in the species we need to protect(as well as mandating that those fins from sharks harvested for food are discarded as waste)?

What would the effect be of enforcing strict regulations on possession and sale of any parts of protected species and imposition of very expensive punitive penalties upon violators?

It would be very helpful to have some information about the current estimated composition, by species, of the annual trade in shark fins from Texas waters. Does anyone have a source for this?

Thank you for your efforts, Sushi Boy, and your willingness to share important news with us. Planning a sustainable future for the Gulf of Mexico is indeed vital for all Texans.