Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Negative | Neutral |
Relating to the sale and
purchase of shark fins or products derived from shark fins; creating a criminal
offense.
HB 1579 would add a new section to Chapter 66 of the Parks
and Wildlife Code that regulates the sale or purchase of shark fins. Specifically,
it would prohibit a person from possessing shark fins for any purpose. However,
it would allow a person to buy or sell a shark carcass, but only if the tail
and fins are attached at the time of the sale.
This legislation would allow the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department (TPWD) to issue permits for a person to possess shark fins, however this
would only be for scientific research.
HB 1579 would give the warden or a police officer the authority
to hold any shark fins as evidence if they are in violation of the new
provisions of this bill.
Finally, this bill would issue criminal penalties for
persons who are convicted for illegally possessing shark fins. It would be a
Class B Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor if a person commits an offense. The
penalty could be bumped up to a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor if
a person commits two or more shark fin violations within a five year period.
5/27/2015 update:
The Senate committee did not make changes to this legislation. However, the final engrossed version from the House added provisions that would clarify that it would not be illegal to possess shark fins from fishing. We are glad this clarification was added, however we still view this legislation as bad towards our liberty principles because it is duplicative of federal laws. For this reason, we still oppose HB 1579. The Senate chamber sponsor is Senator Lucio.
First chamber recommendation:
In the 83rd Legislative session, HB 852 attempted to ban the
possession of shark fins, however the way it was written left room for broad
interpretation. We opposed that legislation because it would of outlawed shark
fishing, which was not, and to this day is not, illegal.
Additionally, we found HB 852 to be unnecessary because it would make the laws redundant because the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 and the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 already addressed shark finning issues at the federal level. Ultimately, HB 852 was withdrawn from the Senate floor after having passed the House.
By clarifying that a person may buy, sell, or possess a shark carcass that has its fins and tail attached this legislation is more narrowly crafted than its predecessor from the 83rd Legislative Session.
However, HB 1579 would still implement new rules and regulations at the state
level to address a practice that is already prohibited by the federal government. In other words, this bill
is duplicative of federal laws, so the purpose of this bill is moot.
We do not support HB 1579 because it
needlessly grows government.