Hawaii SB 2169 Passes Another Big Step!

The Hawaii bill to ban sale, possession, distribution of shark fins and all shark harvest in Hawaii passed the Conference session with a unanimous YES vote. More work for the legislators to do today, but hopefully the bill will to the House and Senate for votes on Friday.

Thank you all so much for all your letters and phone calls. It has made an enormous impact.

More news very soon!

Update on Hawaii Shark Fin Bill: SB2169

An historic bill is moving through the Hawaiian Legislature calling on a prohibition of shark fin. Since passing the Hawaiian Senate, and then, last week's vote in the Hawaiian House of Representatives, SB 2169 - Relating to Shark Fins - has now moved to the next step in this long legislative process. And once again, it is necessary to rally support to ensure its final passage. There are still a few more steps to go, so please bear with us! Following is an update from Stefanie Brendl of Shark Allies in Hawaii with instructions on how you can help today. Here is where we are with this bill: After passing the House vote, the bill went into "Conference", where Representatives from the House and the Senate are meeting to discuss a final version. Because the bill went through so many changes in the different Committees, the House and Senate disagree on some details of the final language. This is why the Conference is necessary. The main issue now is that some members of the House are asking for changes that dilute the bill to the point of changing the whole intent. For example, taking out "possession" so that shark fins could still be imported for shark fin soup. And if the Senate and House cannot come to agreement on the language during this Conference process, the bill will not be able to move forward and won't even make it the next step. The Hawaiian people are overwhelming in support of the measure, including more and more among the Chinese community in Hawaii. But there is still some opposition in the House that is not completely clear. We have scheduled a press conference for Sunday where we will show the depth of support that we really have. We have invited members of the community to represent the Hawaiian and the Chinese culture, as well as representatives of conservation groups. We will have videos, photos and articles available. Here is how you can help: 1) Please send a letter to the Hawaii House Representatives: The important points to include in the letter are: Ask the members of the legislature to please make sure SB2169 will move ahead and become law. Don't let this important opportunity slip away. Legislators, please listen to the majority, and not to the interests of a small group that is trying to hold up this ground breaking movement. The world is watching. Hawaii can make a difference. Legislators can show great leadership by taking a strong stance. It is important that they realize how many people are watching this effort, and how much impact this will have. Please address your letters to: Hawaii State Legislature State Capitol Building Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Re: S.B. No. 2169, Relating to Shark Fins Dear Members of the Hawaii State Legislature, Also please send a copy to all the Representatives at this address: reps@Capitol.hawaii.gov 2) If you have time, give these offices a call ASAP. These are the House Representatives on the conference committee that still have objections to the bill. Speaker Say is not on the committee, but he is the speaker of the House, and therefore has a great deal of influence on all of the Representatives. Feel free to ask some tough questions and demand answers on why they are hesitating to support this bill. But please keep it polite and respectful! Email addresses are included below in case you want to follow up with materials etc. Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu ph 808 586-8490 e-mail repkaramatsu@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Ken Ito: ph 808 586-8470 e-mail repito@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Angus McKelvey ph 808 586-6160 e-mail repmckelvey@Capitol.hawaii.gov House Speaker Calvin K.Y. Say ph 808 586-6100 e-mail repsay@Capitol.hawaii.gov Thank you for your continued support and patience! We will continue to keep you up to date as this bill moves through this - sometimes tedious - process! Stefanie Brendl Shark Allies

Shark Truth Wedding Contest: Closes May 9th!

Please spread the word about Shark Truth and their contest to reward couples who make the decision to not serve shark fin soup at their weddings. Let's help Shark Truth to "Stop the Soup: One Bowl at a Time".

Shark Truth is a not-for-profit consumer awareness group that seeks to engage consumers in a collaborative discussion to find alternatives to shark fin soup. We are dedicated to promoting awareness around the irreversibly detrimental effects of the shark finning industry by specifically working with (and not against) consumers.

Contest Details:

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Happy Hearts Love Sharks

Wedding Contest 2010

Did you know that a wedding banquet serving shark fin soup to 300 guests can kill up to 30 sharks? Through the 'Happy Hearts Love Sharks' wedding contest, we will reward couples who submit a video or photo entry of their pledge to Stop the Soup at their wedding banquet and promote shark fin soup alternatives.

Couples can enter now for a chance to our International Grand Prize: a waterproof digital camera and an adopt-a-shark package.

**The first 5 international couples to enter the contest will get the beautiful coffee table book “Sharks Up Close”, which captures the majestic, beautiful shark in photography.

Contest closes May 9th, 2010

Registration and contest details at http://sharktruth.com/wedding

Questions and comments? Email wedding-contest@sharktruth.com

Stop the Soup - Spread Shark Truth

http://sharktruth.com

http://facebook.com/sharktruth

http://twitter.com/sharktruth

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For the Happy Hearts Love Sharks pamphlet and other Shark Truth goodies to download, please contact us.

Want more info?

Why wedding banquets? http://sharktruth.com/stop-the-soup/wedding/why/

'Happy Hearts Love Sharks' wedding contest: sharktruth.com/wedding

More about Shark Truth: http://sharktruth.com/about/

If you want to help us Stop the Soup or if you have any questions, please contact Shark Truth.

Hawaii Shark Fin Bill Passes the House of Representatives!!!!

Synopsis:

Perhaps the most significant legislation involving sharks in US history was passed yesterday by the Hawaiian House of Representatives. This bill will prohibit the sale, possession, and trade of any type of shark fin or shark fin product in the State, including State waters.

This bill has stirred up a great deal of political debate, pitting the concerns of ocean health against a lucrative trade. And has also spurred somewhat of a cultural debate, since the Chinese cultural preference for consuming shark fin soup runs counter to the Hawaiian reverence and respect for sharks as powerful "aumakua", which in Hawaiian is defined as a benevolent guardian spirit or family protector.

History:

Former Hawaiian First Lady Vicky Cayetano is the inspiration behind the bill and asked Sen. Clayton Hee to write the legislation. She is a Chinese immigrant, extremely well respected, and a very outspoken proponent of the bill. Sen. Hee, who is half Chinese and half Hawaiian, has served in Hawaii's State Legislature since 1982 and is Chairman of the Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program. He introduced the bill on January 20th.

Both Sen. Hee and Mrs. Cayetano have fought hard to keep the bill alive and are determined to see it passed into law. Mrs. Cayetano provided powerful testimony at the recent House Judiciary Committee Hearing, including her statement that "shark fin soup is about as cultural as bound feet". Their efforts were also instrumental in getting the meaure resurrected last week after it had been deferred by the House Judicial Committee by Rep. Karamatsu.

Local conservationists, Stefanie Brendl of Shark Allies and Inga Gibson, of The Humane Society of the United States, have completely dedicated themselves to advocating the passage of this bill for the past two months. Stefanie, through her tireless grass roots efforts, has garnered widespread international attention and support. And meanwhile Inga has been working non stop to help to iron out legal issues, drafting amendments and working on wording changes to ensure that the bill is fair and will hold up to scrutiny. The efforts of these two dedicated women have contributed greatly to keeping SB 2169 moving through all the various committees that had to review and vote on the measure. They have spent almost every other day at the capitol meeting with committee members, working with the opposition and helping to draft amendments, all the while spreading education about sharks, finning and the bill.

And of course the groundswell of public support from within the Hawaiian community and from around the world has been nothing short of phenomenal. Stefanie has rallied the troops at every critical step along the way, assisted by some key contributors, all of whom have spent many, many hours glued to phones and keyboards, pulling out all stops in efforts to keep the bill going.

Among this avalanche of support, most notable has been a statement signed by fifty one members of the Mission Blue Voyage, a National Geographic project which was imagined to fulfill Sylvia Earle's 2009 TEDPrize wish to save the oceans!! This list is a who's who of the world’s most renowned ocean experts – marine scientists, deep sea explorers, technology innovators, policy makers, business leaders, environmentalists, activists and artists.

More letters of support came from renowned Artist of the Sea and Hawaiian resident, Wyland, as well as Hollywood actors, prominent business leaders, and scientists.

The combination of all of these elements has contributed to getting the bill to this point. It has made it through two Senate Committees, three Judicial Committees and a full vote on the House Floor. Many hurdles have been overcome, but there are still a few more steps to go.

Next Steps:

Next week the bill will go to a Conference meeting, in which one Senate Committee and one House Committee get together to clean up any issues with the language, and the "defective" 2050 date will be corrected - see note below. For example, many of you read about opposition from Shark Researchers at the University of Hawaii. They were initially opposed to the bill, because they feared that it would make it illegal for them to possess specimens needed for their research. The original bill did include an exemption for educational and research purposes, but this exemption was taken out at some point in the process. After addressing this concern with the researchers, they are now strongly in support of the bill provided the education and research exemption is included.

Because attempts to kill the bill were not successful, it's very possible that a new wave of opposition may surface.

During the Conference meetings, there will likely be many voices trying to be heard. Some interest groups will surely be vocal in wanting exemptions and less stringent language. Some compromises may have to be made. Support for the bill and full protection for sharks is strong, however.

After the Conference meetings, the bill will move on to a Senate vote.

And after the Senate vote it will be sent to the Governor. The Governor can sign the bill into law or veto it.

At this point we need to sit tight and try to be patient for the next week as the bill goes through the conference process. We'll send another update soon.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone who wrote, made phone calls and spread the word over the past two months!! Our voices really do count and all this effort does make a difference!! Our input will be needed again soon; we'll send an update to let you know what we can do to help.

Please hang in there and stay with us over the coming weeks until this bill is finally signed into law!

** Note about 2050 date:

Legislators insert a "defective date" on many bills that are expected to go through a great deal of discussion and amendments. When a committee feels that all issues have not been resolved, but they want to pass the bill out of their committee to keep it alive, (because the deadlines are so tight) they add the defective date. This signals to everyone that more discussion is needed, but that the bill is essentially alive. Without this option, some bills would get stuck in a committee until every single issue was resolved beyond any doubt. And as a result, these bills would never make it through all the steps within the designated time.

A defective date also forces the bill into a "conference meeting", which means that the bill has to be approved by the "originating body". Again, that's because after a bill has gone through a number of changes, the originating body (in this case Senator Hee's committee in the Senate) is given the opportunity to agree or disagree with the other Committee's additions and changes. This process prevents the bill from turning into something completely different from its original intent.

Once Representatives and Senators that have been designated to the conference committee have agreed on the final draft, they remove the defective date and assign the "effective date". Generally the effective date will be July of the same year or the beginning of the next year.

Shark Fins Dealer Pleads Guilty to Illegally Dealing in Fins from Protected Species

The Shark Conservation "spotlight" has certainly been on Florida lately. Most of this attention has been brought on by obvious public  issues such as Shark Tournaments and the ongoing unsustainable taking of sharks. Here is some good and bad news about Florida sharks. The Good News is that they finally busted this guy, The Bad News is, how long he has been getting away with this and the penalties seem far to lenient. 

Southport resident Mark L. Harrison had been running a substantial shark fin industry right in his own backyard. According to the charges and other information presented in court, Harrison allegedly represented himself to be the nation’s largest shark fin buyer, purchasing "millions" of shark fins since he had been in the business, beginning in 1989. 

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

WASHINGTON—Mark L. Harrison, a resident of Southport, Fla., and Harrison International LLC, a Florida corporation, today pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to violating the Lacey Act, a federal fish and wildlife trafficking law, by dealing in shark fins, the landing of which was not reported as required by law, the Justice Department announced today.

In addition, Mark Harrison pleaded guilty to a second charge related to his attempted export of shark fins of species that are prohibited to harvest under laws of the state of Florida. Harrison also pleaded guilty to a third charge related to trading in shark fins that had been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions.

According to the charges and other information presented in court, Harrison allegedly represented himself to be the nation’s largest shark fin buyer, purchasing "millions" of shark fins since he had been in the business, beginning in 1989. According to the plea agreements, in February 2005, Harrison purchased shark fins in Florida from an individual fisherman and later resold them in interstate commerce. No report of the landing or sale of those fins was filed with any Florida authorities, as required by law. Accurate reporting statistics of shark harvests are crucial for managing and regulating the populations of the various shark species that occur in U.S. waters.

In August 2007, Harrison attempted to export through Atlanta a shipment of shark fins that included at least 211 fins from Caribbean sharp-nosed sharks, two fins from bignose sharks, and two fins from night sharks, all of which are protected by Florida and/or federal laws due to their low population levels.

Finally, the plea agreements reveal that for almost four years Harrison processed shark fins by drying them on open air racks and/or tarpaulins laid on the ground, outdoors, on his property in Southport. The fins were left out at all times until dry and were exposed to bird droppings and insects. Dogs ran freely among the drying racks. Harrison would then sell the dried fins and ship them in interstate commerce through the Northern District of Georgia.

"Trafficking the fins of these shark species is not a harmless offense," said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. "These species are protected in order to ensure their continued sustainability. The Justice Department, along with our partner agencies, will continue to prosecute those who illegally trade in protected shark or other wildlife species."

"We will not tolerate the illegal harvest and sale of protected shark species whose populations continue to diminish in our oceans," said Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Southeast Region. "We are pleased with the apprehension of Mr. Harrison, who is one of the country’s largest commercial shark fin buyers and I applaud the efforts of the prosecutors and Agents involved in this multi-agency federal investigation."

The Lacey Act, enacted in 1900, is the first national wildlife law, and was passed to assist states in enforcing wildlife laws. It provides additional protection to fish, wildlife and plants that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of state, tribal, foreign or U.S. law.

Since 1993, the NOAA Fisheries Service has managed, via federal fishery management plans, the commercial harvest and sale of sharks in or from federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. In 1998, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization finalized and adopted an "International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks," recognizing the worldwide pressure being placed on declining shark populations by commercial fishing and the demand for shark fin soup. U.S. management of sharks has included prohibitions against retaining and/or selling particular species, including some in which Harrison was dealing, the populations of which are so reduced that further harvesting cannot be sustained.. There are currently 19 federally protected species of sharks.

David E. Nahmias, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia said, "There is an immense trade in wildlife products. Those who trade in wildlife must comply with federal and state wildlife statutes and regulations. We will support the investigative work of those agencies who identify violations of these laws, and commend the teamwork of the investigators who brought these wildlife violations to our attention."

"We are proud of the coordinated investigative work of our agents with their colleagues from NOAA, Office of Law Enforcement and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations," said James Gale, Special Agent in Charge, Southeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement. "This case is an excellent example of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s commitment to investigate and interdict the commercialization of protected wildlife species."

Harrison is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 19, 2009, at 9:30 a.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell Vineyard of the Northern District of Georgia. Harrison faces up to one year in federal prison and a fine of up to $100,000. His company faces a fine of $200,000.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the NOAA Office for Law Enforcement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.

Great work and thanks to all the agencies involved!

Attention Florida Shark Fans Florida's sharks need you!

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has scheduled a series of public workshops this month to receive comments on the management of sharks. The FWC is seeking feedback on options for amending its shark management rules that would comply with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks.

The Commission wants to hear public comments regarding the recreational and commercial harvest of sharks in state waters of Florida, including possible changes to shark bag and size limits, the prohibited shark species list, and shark landing requirements and gear rules.

The FWC encourages interested persons to participate in the workshops, which will take place from 6-8 p.m. local time, as follows:

Monday, June 15

Gulf Coast Community College

5230 W. U.S. Hwy. 98

Social Science Building, Room #201

Panama City

Monday, June 22

Brevard Agricultural Center

3695 Lake Drive

Cocoa

Tuesday, June 23

IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum

300 Gulf Stream Way

Dania Beach

Wednesday, June 24

City of Key Colony Beach

City Hall Building

Mile Marker 53.5

600 W. Ocean Drive

Key Colony Beach

Thursday, June 25

Punta Gorda City Hall

326 W. Marion Ave.

Punta Gorda

Anyone requiring special accommodations to participate in the workshops should advise the FWC at least five days prior to the workshop by calling 850-488-6411. If you are hearing- or speech-impaired, contact the FWC using the Florida Relay Service at 800-955-8771 (TDD) or 800-955-8770 (voice).

There is Hope!

Lawrence Groth and Christopher Chin chat with Peter Knights from WildAid

There is no light at the end of the tunnel yet.
But there is definitely hope.

When we were planning this event, we never expected any of these establishments to throw down their soup pots and surrender without a fight.
But we did get one after all.

We had a fantastic weekend.

On Saturday, Lawrence Groth and Bob Mc Nerney from Shark Safe and Christopher Chin from COARE joined forces. As a team we went into Chinatown together, we verified several restaurants that serve shark fin soup, and identified a number of markets that sell fins. We provided information in English and Chinese to each of these proprietors, and engaged in some friendly discussion. In all but a few cases, we were treated with respect, and number of restaurateurs seemed quite interested and said they would consider removing shark fin soup from their menus.

We also ran into two restaurant owners who were very much opposed to shark fin soup (one of which was previously and mistakenly noted as offering the soup). We will be working with these two restaurants to help set an example and encourage others to follow the same path.

Sitting down with a map and our notes from the day, we decided upon the most effective approach and prioritized locations to picket the next day.


Sunday's healthy turnout was welcomed by a warm sunny morning at Portsmouth Square.
After everyone signed in, we gave a briefing and then led several groups up to start with the markets. We were cheered on by passersby, cars honked in support, and even a few of the bus drivers shouted kudos. Our next wave placed participants in carefully selected locations near popular restaurants serving the soup. At the end of the day, we had one restaurant agree to remove it from their menu, and another offered to stop serving it if we would help with the costs of reprinting the menus. We'll be following up with both, and will report back.

Among the participants were one couple Kevin and Liz who flew up from LA to be there and also four young men from LA who drove all night to be there and join the protest. The rest were mostly all from the Bay Area and all were enthusiastic. It was a great group of shark people.
Among the visitors to the Shark Safe HQ set up at Portsmouth Square was Peter Knight the executive director of Wildaid. Peter was feeling under the weather and could not stay out in the cold but he did offer some great suggestions and support for future events.

While we were making plans for this weekend's events, it came to our attention that other groups were working on similar programs in the area. WildAid and COARE teamed up to create the Shark-friendly Communities project a few years ago. But has not been active in any efforts recently. In fact a little over a year ago Wildaid had mailed a letter very similar to the letter that we hand delivered on Saturday to every restaurant in SF that served shark fin soup asking the owners of these restaurants to open a dialog with Wildaid regarding the shark finning issue. They sadly received absolutely NO response.

COARE has planned to start a similar campaign to the successful "Dolphin Safe" campaign of the 1980's. We also modeled our "Shark Safe"organization after the same. With two organizations with the same ideas and the same goals, great things can happen!
We found that we're all pointed in the same direction, and we're combining our forces - our resources, energy, enthusiasm, and our supporters, to have a greater impact in San Francisco and around the world.

Stay tuned for new developments.

To all participants planning to join the Shark Fin Soup Protest in SF Chinatown

Recently there have been shark finning demonstrations in other cities. Some of these events involved participants marching down the street chanting slogans. This may be an effective tactic in those cities, but our event in San Francisco’s Chinatown will use a different approach or tactic. We will not march down the street chanting.

We hope for positive results wherever anti-shark-finning movements are held, and ours will be non-confrontational. San Francisco’s Chinatown is a unique and complex community. Marching and shouting will have little or no effect in this community. It would be perceived as nothing more than a mere nuisance and ignored.

The San Francisco protest will involve strategic placement of small groups of protesters at specifically targeted locations. We will have as many groups as possible spread out to these various locations to maximize the possibility of accomplishing our goal for this event.
Our goal is to educate the public about the health hazards involved and the devastating effects that Shark Fin Soup consumption is having on the environment. We will attempt to convince people to not order or make shark fin soup. We will also try to persuade restaurants to stop offering shark fin soup to their patrons.
We will do this by having our small groups stand in front of the targeted locations holding signs with that message. We will be handing out informational leaflets (written in English and Chinese) detailing the issues connected to shark fin soup consumption. We will use courtesy and respect to convey our message.
We understand that many shark advocates are very passionate about their beliefs. We want to invite the Chinatown community to understand and share our passion and receive our message clearly.

Code of Conduct for Participants in the
SF Chinatown Shark Fin Soup Protest Demonstration

• All participants will conduct themselves in a peaceful and respectful manner.
• Participants shall not make any racial or derogatory remarks towards any person.
• Participants shall not enter any establishment that is being boycotted or picketed.
• Participants shall not block any persons from entering or exiting any building or structure.
• Participants shall not purposely disrupt vehicle or pedestrian traffic.
• NO violence of any kind will be tolerated.

Participants will be required to check in at Portsmouth Square before joining the demonstration.

See you there!

Thank you all ! For the tremendous outpouring of support.

Since announcing the Shark Safe Project and the upcoming event in San Francisco’s Chinatown we have received hundreds of emails from concerned shark lovers and supporters from all over the US and from around the world.
Many people have expressed a sincere interest in starting a similar effort in their own home city. We will do everything we possibly can to continue this effort and provide support for these future efforts.

You all can start now to begin preparing for a successful campaign in your area.

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  Reach out to the Chinese and Asian community by contacting schools and various youth groups such as Boy Scout troops, Church groups, sport clubs, schools, etc…
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  Offer to speak at group meetings and events about scuba diving and the ocean environment.

Focus on educational aspects about sharks. It would be great to show slide shows and or videos showing the beauty of sharks. Make your presentation educational. Concentrate on educating these groups about the importance of sharks in the marine environment. Speak about how sharks are at risk of extinction due to over fishing and the demand for shark fin soup. Inspire your audience to be passionate about the marine environment and convince them that they can be active in their own community and promote the protection of sharks.

• 
  Create a contact list from your audiences and offer to invite them to future events in their local area.

If you start working on this soon you will have created a wonderful, educated and dedicated group of young people to participate in the “Shark Safe” campaign in your area.

We will soon be announcing future “Shark Safe” campaigns in cities such as New York, Miami, Seattle and Los Angeles. If you live near these cities please start preparing in your area.

Shark Safe Project will soon be able to support you further from our website which is currently under construction.

Thank you all.

Yours in sharks,
The Shark Safe Team

Shark Finning Protest Demonstration in San Francisco's Chinatown

The Shark Safe protest demonstration in San Francisco’s Chinatown will be on
Sunday January 25th at 12:00 noon.
(No football games that day so no excuses!)

Participants will meet at Portsmouth Square San Francisco.
The square is centrally located in Chinatown and a great place to meet. There will be a Shark Safe representative there at all times to meet and greet participants. Picket location assignments and supplies will be distributed from Portsmouth Square.

We have 100 picket signs and stacks of leaflets to be handed out. If you could make a personal banner and/or sign please do so and bring them with you.
We will send groups of 3 or more protesters to targeted restaurant and market locations. There are many locations we wish to picket so we will hit as many as we can as time and attendance allows.

The protest will continue until approximately 7:00 pm. It could be a long day so please bring water and snacks with you. In case of inclement weather please bring a coat and or umbrella.

The San Francisco Police department has been very helpful. They have suggested some rules of conduct that all participants should follow.

Rules of engagement are as follows:

• At no time should any participant block or disrupt street vehicle traffic.
• At no time shall an entrance or exit to any establishment be blocked or barriers of any type be erected that would impede persons from escaping the establishment in case of emergency such as fire or earthquake.
• At no time shall a participant deface any private or public property.
• Loud speakers over 10 dcb are not allowed.
• No violence will be tolerated.
• For emergencies dial 911

Everyone has the right to FREE SPEECH and we are welcome by the city of San Francisco as long as we do not break the law!

Protesters will stand in front of targeted restaurants and shark fin market locations holding signs and banners. Leaflets will be distributed to pedestrians passing by or entering the picket locations. Our goal is to convince patrons to stop patronizing the restaurants that serve shark fin soup and to encourage them to patronize the establishments that do not serve shark fin soup (SHARK SAFE) instead.

Keep it simple!

For questions or more info email us at sharksafe@comcast.net

San Francisco Chinatown Protest

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The Shark Safe Project is starting 2009 “The Year of the Shark” with a protest demonstration in San Francisco’s Chinatown on January 25th and 26th (Chinese New Year).
Please join us as we will be picketing several establishments including restaurants that serve shark fin soup and shark fin markets.

This is intended to be a peaceful demonstration yet an aggressive protest to convince these establishments to cease offering all shark products.

We will be carrying signs and handing out leaflets (written in English and Chinese). Our immediate goal is to educate the local population of the dangers of consuming shark fins and the devastation that shark fining is causing to our oceans. Hopefully convincing many local citizens to stop consuming shark fin soup and other shark products and to stop patronizing establishments that offer such products. Our long-term goal will be to have city ordinances passed to prohibit the import and distribution of all shark products in the city of San Francisco. Making San Francisco the first “Shark Safe” city in the USA.

Those of you that cannot attend the demonstration can still participate by calling the restaurants listed above. You may call each restaurant and voice your concerns about their serving shark fin soup and or make a reservation for a small party for dinner at a certain time. Then call back 10 minutes before your reservation time and cancel your reservation and explain that you are doing so because that establishment chooses to serve shark fin soup and that you will be patronizing a different establishment that does not serve shark fin soup.

When calling these restaurants please be firm but polite and simply voice your opinions. Please do not make any threats or speak harshly to the employee that answers the phone, as they more than likely are not the actual proprietor who makes up the menu or purchases the supplies for the restaurant. Being rash or vulgar will not do our cause any good and in fact would be detrimental to our cause.

Shark Safe Project’s intention is to seriously decrease if not eliminate the demand for shark fins globally. It may take one person at a time, one store at a time, one street at a time, one city at a time but we must start somewhere! We are choosing San Francisco as it is home of the largest Chinatown outside of Asia.

PLEASE JOIN US!