BOSTON - A state lawmaker wants to ban the sale of shark fins in Massachusetts, hoping to save the animals from individuals who cut off their fins and throw them back in the water to drown or bleed to death.

State Rep. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, recently filed legislation to outlaw the sale, possession, or trade of shark fins.

The fins are mainly used in shark fin soup, and more than a dozen restaurants in Chinatown in Boston sell the dish that is considered a delicacy, according to Lewis.

Similar to the slaughter of African elephants for their ivory tusks, demand for fins is driving a massive overfishing of sharks threatening extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Despite a “shark finning” ban in U.S. waters, more than 70 million sharks around the world are stripped of their fins annually, according to environmentalists.

 By banning the sale of shark fins in Massachusetts, Lewis said he hopes to snuff out demand locally. The legislation is currently in the Rules Committee, awaiting a committee referral.

 Lewis said he worked with Bay State fishermen to ensure the legislation did not hurt the Massachusetts fishery. Similar bans exist in Hawaii, California, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Delaware, Maryland, and New York, along with American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.