The CNMI may soon become the first U.S. territory to ban shark finning, if the Governor signs a bill that is now headed his way.
On a 17-0 vote, the House passeda House- and Senate-revised version of a bill seeking to prohibit any person from possessing, selling, offering for sale, trading, or distributing shark fins in the CNMI.
Once the bill is signed into law, it will also stop the shark fin soup trade in the CNMI.
The Bill's author, Diego T. Benavente says enforcement of the bill has also been tightened up, to involve the Department of Lands and Natural Resources, the Department of Public Safety, and the Office of the Attorney General.