Shark fins illegal in California starting 2012; online petition aimed at Toronto

Starting in 2012, the sale, purchase, and possession of shark fins will be illegal in the state of California. Today (October 7), California governor Jerry Brown signed bill AB376, which bans shark fins, just one month after the California senate took a stand on sharks.

In Canada, Shark Truth—a Vancouver-based nonprofit group with the goal to stop the consumption of shark-fin soup by raising awareness of its alternatives—recently launched an online petition to support a shark-fin ban in Toronto. To date, the petition has collected more than 2,500 signatures, and has a goal of reaching 5,000 signatures.

On September 9, Toronto city council unanimously voted in favour of moving forward on a staff report on a proposed bylaw against shark fins. The proposed legislation will go before the Licensing and Standards Committee on October 13 and will go to a council vote in November.

In Vancouver, Shark Truth is organizing the first Sans Fin Soup Contest, which takes place at the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside (1133 West Hastings Street) on October 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event invites chefs from Chinese restaurants in the Lower Mainland to create an alternative to shark-fin soup.

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.