On June 8, 2021, World Oceans Day, then-Hawaiʻi Governor David Ige signed the Hawaiʻi Shark Protection Act into law, creating the first state, effective January 1, 2022, to protect sharks, whether alive or dead, from capture, entanglement, or fishing, within state marine waters. Anyone who violates the law faces a misdemeanor and fines up to $10,000.

Hawaiʻi was also the first state in the nation in 2010 to enact a shark fin soup ban, which became a global initiative with over a dozen states and U.S. territories following. When it comes to shark conservation, Hawai‘i has become an environmental trailblazer in more recent years.

Special mahalo nui loa to the many people who supported and joined in to support this bill with co-founders Ocean Ramsey, JuanSharks (Juan Oliphant) our team at One Ocean, Save The Sea Turtles International, and the many other people and nonprofit organizations, scientists, businesses, divers, and concerened and caring citizens from Hawai’i and afar who helps us to get this law FIN-ALLY PASSED!!!!!!! This was so many years in the making but we appreciate you and the aloha you have shared to help protect manō