Timed for “Shark Week” — The Discovery Channel’s annual programming onslaught that began Monday — a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced legislation that aims to ban the sale of shark fins in the United States.

The Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016 comes from U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John McCain (R-AZ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

“Every year, it is estimated fins from as many as 70 million sharks end up in the global shark fin trade,” Booker said in a press release from his office. “Shark finning is pushing some species of sharks to the brink of extinction. With this bipartisan measure, America can become a global leader by shutting down the domestic market for shark fins. Sharks play a pivotal role in marine ecosystems, and we must do more to protect them.”

The act, says Booker’s office, calls for this:

• removing the U.S. contribution of shark fins to the global market;
• allowing for “stronger enforcement” of the “no finning” ban in the United States; and
• putting the U.S. in “a stronger position to advocate internationally” for abolishing the fin trade in other countries.

“Although the United States has banned the practice of shark finning aboard vessels in U.S.-controlled waters, there is no federal ban on the removal and sale of shark fins once brought ashore,” the press release explains.

Eleven states and three territories have implemented bans on the sale of fins. In Hawaii, those efforts were led by former state Sen. Clayton Hee.