| Chapter 066 |
| 2016 -- S 2676 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 06/13/2016 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE - GENERAL PROVISIONS |
| Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Ruggerio, Walaska, and DiPalma |
| Date Introduced: March 08, 2016 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Chapter 20-1 of the General Laws entitled "General Provisions" is hereby |
| amended by adding thereto the following section: |
| 20-1-29. Trade in shark fins. – (a) For the purpose of this section: |
| (1) "Shark" means any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii; it does not include smooth |
| dogfish (smooth hounds), spiny dogfish, or species in the suborder Batoidea; |
| (2) "Shark fin" means the raw, dried, or otherwise processed detached fin or the raw, |
| dried, or otherwise processed detached tail of a shark. |
| (b) Except as provided in this section, no person shall possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, |
| or distribute a shark fin. |
| (c) A person who holds a license or permit to take or land sharks may separate a shark fin |
| from a lawfully landed shark during the ordinary course of preparing the body of the shark for |
| consumption, sale, trade, or distribution; provided, however, that a shark fin so separated from the |
| shark shall be immediately destroyed unless used by the person for the purposes of taxidermy and |
| subsequent display. |
| (d) The director of the department of environmental management may issue a permit for |
| the possession of a shark fin to a person conducting noncommercial, scientific research. |
| (e) Any shark fin seized by the director of the department of environmental management, |
| or the director's agents, through the enforcement of this section shall be destroyed. |
| (f) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of |
| not less than five hundred ($500) dollars, nor more than one thousand ($1,000) dollars, or by |
| imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment; |
| provided, however, that each shark fin possessed, sold, offered for sale, traded, or distributed in |
| violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense. Provided further, a violation of this |
| section by a person holding a commercial or recreational license or permit pursuant to this |
| chapter shall result in the suspension or revocation of such license or permit. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2017. |
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| LC005285/SUB A |
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