Oregon's Legislature may be mired in partisan disputes, but there's at least one issue that has united Republicans and Democrats: shark fins.

Amid declining shark populations,

which bans the possession, sale and distribution of shark fins (except spiny dogfish, a small shark).

, and California's Legislature is considering one, too. The fins are used in traditional Chinese soup, and the move toward bans has

.

The bans fill a loophole in federal law, which bans harvesting of fins but does not ban selling, distributing or possessing shark fins.

An estimated 26 million to 73 million sharks are harvested annually for their meat, skin and fins.

, with harvesters often stripping fins and tossing the shark back in the water to die.

In 2009, the Pacific territory of Palau became the first nation to declare its waters -- about the size of Texas -- a shark safe haven. The Maldives followed suit in 2010, and Honduras has a moratorium on finning. The Bahamas and Chile are considering crackdowns as well.

Palau's Sharks are worth more alive than dead,

. The meat from a single reef shark is worth $108, but the potential tourism value for the Pacific Ocean island is $1.9 million over the shark's lifetime.

And the Washington Post reports from Hong Kong that Asian activists are beginning to rally against finning.

This spring, a lawmaker in the National People's Congress introduced legislation that would ban shark fins, the Post says. And in Hong Kong, a cadre of students has begun to advocate for sharks within both academia and social circles.

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