US senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, has re-introduced his Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act (S. 1008), legislation that would create a shark conservation and trade fairness certification for nations wishing to export shark products to the US.

The bill has four co-sponsors, including Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, Alaska Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Lousiana Republican Bill Cassidy, as well as a companion bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 788), introduced by representative Daniel Webster, a Florida Republican.

Webster's bill, introduced in late January, has 18 bipartisan co-sponsors.

S. 1008 is aimed at stopping the practice of shark finning. Specifically, it would update the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and prohibit the import of shark products originating from any nation without a certification as well as the possession of such products in the US with limited exceptions for law enforcement, subsistence harvest, education, conservation, or scientific research, according to a press release.

It would direct the secretary of Commerce to include rays and skates into the seafood traceability program to ensure that shark products are not smuggled into the US, falsely labeled as rays and skates, two closely related groups.

“While the practice of shark finning is already banned in US waters, America does have a small population of fishermen who legally harvest whole sharks for their meat, oil, and other products," Murkowski is quoted as saying. "To address the global problem of shark finning, it is important for us to set an example for other nations by requiring their shark fisheries to be sustainably managed.”

Rubio, a one-time presidential candidate, first introduced his shark conservation legislation during the last Congress, where it was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee.