Friday January 20th, Westminster: 

Today we witnessed the UK's Shark Fins Bill pass its 3rd reading in the House of Commons! Sponsored by Christina Rees MP, and receiving convincing cross party support, the Bill proposes to commit Fins Naturally Attached (FNA) into UK law, and bolster import and export laws: banning the trade in detached fins in and out of the UK.

Christina Rees closed her intervention with the hope that this action would 'drive up the standards of global shark conservation'.
The Bill now heads to ‘the other place’ – aka the House of Lords - and the Trust will be on hand to encourage things along.

Especial thanks to Shark League partners, Shark Advocates and Ecology Action Centre, who joined us in the House of Commons Gallery.

Shark finning was banned in the EU & UK in 2003, with FNA adopted in 2009 in the UK and 2013 in the EU. Adoption of the Shark Fins Bill in 2023 would be the next step in this 20 year process to tackle shark finning and the fin trade, a driver of overfishing, the most significant threat to sharks and rays.