Direct Resource Link // Saipan Tribune
Shark fin soup lovers have only until tomorrow to legally enjoy their favorite dish.
The 90-day grace period in the shark fin ban law ends tomorrow.
House minority leader Diego Benavente (R-Saipan), author of the shark fin ban bill that became Public Law 17-27 on Jan. 27, said yesterday that that the law gave restaurants a 90-day grace period which ends April 27 to sell or offer for sale shark fins.
He said after the 90th day or starting on April 28, it will already be illegal to sell or offer shark fin soup in the CNMI.
Benavente said the Division of Fish and Wildlife under the Department of Lands and Natural Resources and the Department of Public Safety, as well as the Office of the Attorney General will be the ones to enforce the law and investigate matters related to the shark fin ban law.
“My message to restaurants and those that love shark fin soup is to be aware of the end of the 90-day grace period. While the law was signed on Jan. 27, it gave restaurants 90 days to sell or dispose of their shark fins used for soup in the CNMI,” he said in an interview yesterday.
The law imposes a fine of at least $5,000 but not more than $30,000 and/or imprisonment for up to six months for those found in violation of the shark fin ban law.
The CNMI became the first U.S. territory to ban shark fins on Jan. 27. Benavente’s introduction of the bill was inspired by Hawaii, the first U.S. state to make it illegal to possess, sell or distribute shark fins. The CNMI, in turn, inspired Guam to also ban shark fins.
While the CNMI law prohibits possession, selling, offering for sale, trading, or distributing shark fins in the CNMI, it allows catching of sharks for subsistence or non-commercial purposes.