The New Jersey Assembly will vote on a bill today that will prohibit the selling, trading, distribution or possession of any shark fin that has been separated from a shark prior to its lawful landing.

The bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee last Monday after already having passed the Senate. If it clears the assembly, it will go to Gov. Murphy to sign into law.

Assemblyman John Armato D-Northfield, one of the bill's primary sponsor told the Asbury Park Press they're trying to "get out in front of" shark finning.

Shark finning, the practice of cutting the fins off a shark and discarding the body at sea, however, has been banned in U.S. waters since 1993.

The bill is part of a larger national and international movement to crack down on illegal shark finning. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, which bans the buying and selling of shark fins in the U.S. was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in January.

OCEANA an international advocacy organization for ocean conservation, said fins are still traded, imported and exported throughout the U.S., including from countries that do not have adequate protections in place for their shark species.

According to OCEANA, the fins from as many as 73 million sharks end up in the global market every year.

Armato said he was not aware of any shark finning, legal or illegal, in N.J. nor did he know of any restaurants in N.J. that sold shark fins.

"We're taking a proactive position on this. We're saying we don't want it here," Armato said.

Shark fin soup is a delicacy in some cultures.

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Fishing industry members here say the bill will hurt local fishermen not involved in the illegal trade and punishes the wrong people.

"It's a clear attempt to discourage the industry from participating in sustainable shark fisheries. The industry is monitored, regulated, observed, managed under rigorous scrutiny and this legislation could care less," Greg DiDomenico, president of the Garden State Seafood Association, said.

The association represents N.J.'s commercial fishing trade.

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While the shark fin bill doesn't make it illegal for fisherman to have shark fins that were "lawfully-obtained in a manner consistent with licenses and permits," it puts the burden of proof on the person to demonstrate the fins weren't separated from the shark prior to lawful landing.

Jim Hutchinson Jr., the managing editor of "The Fisherman" magazine, told the Press the bill will result in unnecessary penalties for fishermen who catch a legal shark and remove the fins in order to clean a shark, a routine practice by fishermen engaged in legal shark fishing.

At the very least, he said, it could cause fishermen to incur legal costs to defend themselves in court.

Dan Radel: @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com