Please note:
House Bill 852 died on May 20th 2013,
before being able to reach the Senate floor.
By: Lucio III
H.B. No. 852
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT
relating to the sale and purchase of shark fins or products derived
relating to the sale and purchase of shark fins or products derived from shark fins; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 66.216, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 66.216. POSSESSION OF HEADED OR TAILED FISH. No person may possess a finfish of any species taken from coastal water, except broadbill swordfish or [
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 66, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Section 66.2161 to read as follows:
Sec. 66.2161. SALE OR PURCHASE OF SHARK FINS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Shark" means any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii.
(2) "Shark fin" means the fresh and uncooked, or cooked, frozen, dried, or otherwise processed, fin or tail of a shark.
(b) A person may not buy or offer to buy, sell or offer to sell, possess for the purpose of sale, transport, or ship for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange a shark fin.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), this section applies to the possession, transportation, sale, or purchase of any shark fin regardless of where the shark was taken or caught.
(d) This section does not apply to the possession or transportation in this state of a shark fin taken or caught outside this state and transported from a point outside this state by common carrier without being unloaded in this state to a point of delivery outside this state.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the department may issue a permit for the possession, transport, sale, or purchase of shark fins for a bona fide scientific research purpose.
(f) When a person is charged with violating this section, the warden or other peace officer shall seize and hold the shark fin as evidence. Notwithstanding Section 12.109, on a final court ruling, the department shall destroy the shark fin.
SECTION 3. Section 66.218, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) A person who violates Section 66.2161 or a proclamation adopted under that section commits an offense that is a Class B Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
(d) If it is shown at the trial for a violation of Section 66.2161 or a proclamation adopted under that section that the defendant has been convicted within five years before the trial date of a violation of that section, on conviction the defendant shall be punished for a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect July 1, 2014.
