Comment on FR Doc # E8-07068

May 5, 2008 Dianne Stephan Highly Migratory Species Division Office of Sustainable Fisheries National Marine Fisheries Service One Blackburn Drive Gloucester, MA 01930 Dear Ms. Stephan: Unfortunately HSI is unable to submit full comments at this time, but we would like to state our support for the modification of the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) International Trade Permit (ITP) program that would require shark fin importers, exporters and re-exporters to obtain an ITP. We would like to see species-specific records of international trade in shark fins. At the moment, the major importing entities, such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, while keeping records of fin imports by weight and type, do not record imports by species. We believe that keeping such records will facilitate a far greater understanding of the nature of the international trade in shark fins and will help to identify those species that may be over-exploited for the purposes of the fin trade. HSI commends the recent NOAA announcement that the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Amendment 2 to the Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan includes a policy that sharks taken in Atlantic fisheries must be landed with their fins attached. One of the primary arguments for needing such a requirement is that species are much easier to identify when their fins are still attached. The new rule is entirely compatible with the proposal that international trade records by species should now be kept. Thank you for providing this opportunity for comments. Sincerely, Patricia A. Forkan President Humane Society International