Shark Finning
Christina Rees MP
In May 2015, I had the immense privilege to be elected as Labour and Co-operative MP for Neath, and every day I feel so honoured to represent the wonderful people who live in my beautiful constituency. But it has been tough being in opposition in Parliament for the past 7 years. Especially when the UK Government has benefited from an overwhelming majority of 80 since December 2019. Labour has made many attempts to amend UK Government Bills when they are debated in the House of Commons Chamber and in Bill Committees but even when all opposition Parties line up together to vote against the UK Government, we very rarely win a vote.
However, there is an opportunity for individual back bench MPs to make new law through the Private Members’ Bill procedure (PMB). After every Queen’s Speech that opens Parliament, backbench MPs who want to be considered for a PMB put their name into a draw, and the first twenty drawn out of the hat are placed in the list on the Order Paper for a Friday Sitting Day. The higher the position an MP is drawn of the twenty lucky MPs, the more likely that a PMB receives a Second Reading on a Sitting Friday, and passes into a Bill Committee, where the Bill is debated, and amendments may be tabled and debated from MPs who seek to improve the Bill. The PMB is then debated on the floor of the House of Commons for Report Stage and Third Reading. Should the PMB pass these stages, it is then sent to the Lords where it passes through the same stages before returning to the Commons where any Lords amendments are debated. When both Houses are content, the PMB receives Royal Assent and becomes law.
For the first time in the last 7 years, I was extremely fortunate to be drawn in the top twenty. I drew number 17, so theoretically didn’t have much hope of getting my PMB through the first hurdle — which is to achieve a Second Reading on a Sitting Friday.
As soon as the list of top twenty MPs is made public, MPs are lobbied by stakeholders to encourage them to take up their campaign and therefore enshrine it in legislation. As you will have read from previous articles I have written, I am passionate about campaigning for improving animal welfare. Most of my campaigns have been for animals that live on land, but this time I chose to help marine animals — specifically sharks.
Shark finning is the terribly cruel act of catching a shark at sea, cutting off its fins when it is still alive, and throwing the shark back into the ocean to die a slow, painful, unconscionable, death from drowning, or from bleeding out.
The volume of shark fins that are traded in the global market is astonishing. At least 73 million sharks would have to be killed every year to achieve the 1 to 2 million tonnes needed to support this abominable trade in shark fins. Whilst not all of these 73 million sharks may be killed through shark finning, it is a driving force behind these astronomical numbers.
Sharks have been around for over 400 million years, long before dinosaurs, but of the 500 species, more than a quarter are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being on a scale from “vulnerable” up to “critically endangered”. As top predators, sharks tell us about the health of our ocean, and perform a vital role in marine ecosystems.
Shark finning has been banned in the UK since 2003, but even though it is also illegal in many other parts of the world, shark finning still occurs. What we should do is ensure that shark fins are not being imported into the UK from countries where finning still happens. My PMB will make it illegal to import and export detached shark fins, help end practices forcing sharks closer to extinction, and help restore the balance of our ocean.
My PMB is a simple three clause and one schedule Bill. Clause 1 bans the import and export of shark fins, or items containing shark fins, that have been removed from the body of a shark, into the UK as a result of entry into Great Britain. There are certain exemptions which are outlined in the Schedule if the shark is used for conservation and educational purposes. Where someone has supplied inaccurate or incomplete information for an exemption there is a monetary penalty of up to £3000, and this upper limit may be increased by regulations in the future. My PMB does not ban the sale or consumption of shark fins, providing the fins were removed after the shark is dead and was caught legally and sustainably. This would disproportionately impact on communities where shark fin soup is a traditional delicacy.
Clause 2 amends Article 1 of the Shark Finning Regulation 1185/2003 which is part of EU retained law, and will ensure that shark finning cannot take place by any vessel fishing in UK waters or by any UK vessel fishing in non-UK waters, and will maintain the high standard of our domestic law protections. Clause 3 sets out the territorial extent of my PMB and when or how each provision comes into force.
As my PMB relates to devolved matters, legislative consent will be sought from devolved administrations during the passage of the Bill, but I understand that they are supportive of taking action against the cruel and unsustainable shark fin trade. In many respects, the Welsh Labour Government lead the way on improving animal welfare.
Massive thanks to all stakeholders and colleagues that have supported my PMB. In particular, Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation, which has been campaigning to end the sale and consumption of shark fins and products since 2004. In recent years it launched its “NO FIN TO DECLARE” campaign exposing Britain’s contribution to the global shark fin trade. And Shark Guardian, a charity based in Nottingham, which launched a Parliamentary Petition in 2021 to ban the British shark fin trade, and it secured over a hundred and fifteen thousand signatures showing the depth of support for the aims of my PMB amongst the UK public.
There is good news. My PMB was listed number three on the first Sitting Friday of this Parliamentary Session, 15th July, and didn’t have much chance of being debated if the two PMBs listed in front were “talked out” i.e filibustered, or were supported but took up all the allocated time until the end of the session at 2:30pm. However, the first two PMBs were supported by the UK Government and my PMB was called at 12:35pm. After making a speech presenting my PMB, all the speeches made by backbench MPs from every Party who spoke in the debate, supported my PMB, including the Labour Front-bench Spokesperson, Ruth Jones MP, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Double MP, supported my PMB.
As is convention, I had a few minutes to wind up at the end of the debate and I told MPs how grateful and privileged I felt to have their support for my Bill. And I thanked the Labour Front Bench and the UK Government for their support.
Then Madam Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing MP put the Question to the House “whether the ayes have it”, and I’m delighted that my PMB was passed without a division, and therefore achieved its Second Reading.
When we return in September, I shall apply for the Bill Committee stage to be scheduled as soon as possible in the autumn session.
Christina Rees is the Labour and co-operative MP for Neath