COARE: news | archives | newsletter: January 2012

Great Start to a New Year . . .
Wednesday, 01 February 2012

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Contents:
  - National Ocean Policy
  - New Shark Fin Bans
  - Shark Days
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Hello and Happy New Year, fellow ocean lovers!

You may recall that back in mid July 2010, the U.S.
Inter Agency Ocean Policy Task Force released its Final
Recommendations, which included the creation of a
National Ocean Council.  That same day (19 July 2010),
U.S. President Barack Obama signed the executive order
to adopt those recommendations, thus setting forth the
National Ocean Policy and creating the National Ocean
Council.

We kick off the new year with the National Ocean
Council's Draft Implementation Plan, which describes
more than fifty actions the Federal Government will take
to improve the health of the ocean, coasts, and Great
Lakes - thus supporting tens of millions of jobs and
contributing trillions of dollars a year to the U.S.
economy.

The draft plan is open to public comment until midnight
(EST) on Monday, 27 February 2012.

You may follow this link to learn more about the draft
plan and to provide your comments:

   http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans/implementationplan

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  - New shark fin bans
 ---

We've long been talking about the significance of the
Chicago marketplace in the U.S. shark fin trade.  In
fact, it was a photo we took there several years ago 
that helped establish evidence of increased valuation 
and some of the early price increases in the mid 2000s.

After California and New York, Illinois is home to one
of the largest Chinese-American populations in the U.S.,
and represents a significant portion of the demand for
fins.

After laying a fair bit of groundwork, we then teamed up
with the Humane Society, and began months of planning
and coordination to co-sponsor the bill.  We're now 
pleased to announce that Illinois State Representative 
Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) introduced House Bill (HB) 
4119 to the Illinois General Assembly on 25 January 2012.  
HB 4119 proposes to ban the possession, sale, trade, and 
distribution of shark fins in Illinois.

We're also pleased to be working as part of a larger
coalition supporting an effort to ban fins in Maryland.
House Bill 393 was introduced just today, and like
HB 4119 in Illinois, proposes to ban the possession,
sale, trade, and distribution of shark fins in the
State.  HB 393 was introduced today (01 February), 
and its companion bill in the Senate, SB 465 will be
read into the record tomorrow (02 February).

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  - Shark Days
 ---

Since we're on the topic of sharks, in just a few weeks, 
the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey, California) 
will be holding a special weekend-long celebration 
(11-12 February) of shark awareness and conservation 
called "Shark Days", and they've invited us to 
participate.

Come hang out with us and we'll happily tell you more
more about some of the exciting work we're doing!

Come learn about sharks, witness special shark and 
bat ray feedings, hear behind-the-scenes shark stories 
from Aquarium experts, and meet Jim Toomey - the artist 
behind the popular syndicated cartoon "Sherman's
Lagoon."

To learn more about the Aquarium and the Shark Days
event, visit: 
     http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/vi/vi_events/vi_events_shark_days.aspx

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Wishing you healthy oceans, 
 - Your friends at COARE

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