Chalk up a win for shark conservation

Yesterday the US senate finally passed the Shark Conservation Act that had passed the House of Representatives back in March 2009.  After an approval vote in the House, it can be signed into law, probably during this session.  David at Southern Fried Science has an interesting post about whether this is *entirely* a win for sharks, since it still contains language that would allow limited finning of smooth dogfish (but see my comment on his thread).  On balance, though, any legislation that brings wider attention and some better legislative regulation to shark fisheries is a move in the right direction.  Perhaps one day we’ll see a blanket ban on finning, but in the meantime I’m happy to call this one a pretty big win.