Environment

Key Vote Tuesday In Calif. On Shark Finning Bill

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published June 27, 2011 at 9:52 AM PDT

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

Hundreds of shark fins on the deck of a boat.

Key Vote Tuesday In Calif. On Shark Finning Bill

Legislation to ban the sale, possession or trade of shark fins in California is up for a vote Tuesday in a state senate committee.

The Calif. state Assembly has already approved AB 376.

But before the full Senate can consider the bill, it must be passed out of the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

Jessica Lass with the Natural Resources Defense Council said getting the needed votes may come down to one or two votes.

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"It looks like we just need one more vote particularly from Senator Padilla in Los Angeles and we're really kind of pushing him to make the right decision on this," said Lass.

Lass said the legislation would also ban the distribution of shark fins, which are used for soup.

"Millions, up to 73 million sharks are killed every year just for their fins," said Lass. "And there's a pretty lucrative trade within the U.S."

Lass said Washington state and Hawaii have recently passed similar legislation.

Dozens of actors and other celebrities have been active in their support of the California legislation.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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