New Threats to Dolphins

A runaway Congress could reverse years of progress on protecting dolphins on the high seas, but Earth Island Institute, along with a coalition of organizations, and Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Joseph Biden (D-DE), is fighting back. Boxer and Biden, the original authors of the dolphin-safe tuna program, have introduced S-1460, the Dolphin Protection Act, to continue preventing dolphins from drowning in tuna nets.

As the Ocean Alert goes to press, two legislative efforts to weaken US policy on dolphin protection have been introduced. The first of these threats surfaced in September, when US Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Escondido), joining hands with the so-called Wise-Use Movement, took aim at dolphin protections by introducing HR-2179. If passed, the bill would repeal the federal definition of dolphin-safe and allow dolphin-unsafe tuna to flood the US market. HR-2179 would further allow US tunaboats to once again kill dolphins, setting an international dolphin kill quota as high as 50,000 annually. David Phillips, IMMP Director, quickly labeled HR-2179 the "Dolphin Extermination and Consumer Fraud Act."

HR-2179 had barely been introduced when Mexico and several trade-oriented groups issued the "Panama Declaration" after a series of secret meetings in Washington, DC. The declaration represents an international effort to force Congress to lift the ban on the import and sale of dolphin-unsafe tuna and to change the definition of dolphin-safe in a way that hides the truth from consumers. The current definition of dolphin safe, under the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, sponsored by EII and authored by Senators Boxer and Biden, prohibits all chasing, capturing, and setting of nets on dolphins. The declaration, by contrast, redefines dolphin-safe to mean no observed dolphin mortality, allows the US tuna fishing fleet and the fleets of countries that want to export tuna to the US to resume setting purse seine nets on dolphins to catch the tuna that swim beneath them, and would permit up to 5,000 dolphins to be killed each year. The actual number of dolphins observed killed in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) program last year was 4,095, so the Panama quota would allow killing of approximately 1,000 more dolphins every year. The declaration also calls for allowing dolphin-unsafe tuna imports into the US in the name of free trade, a reversal of the four-year-old US tuna embargo against countries whose fleets' dolphin safety practices are not comparable to our own.

Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK) and John Breaux (D-LA), who have long opposed the dolphin-safe tuna program, introduced S-1420 in the US Senate to implement the Panama Declaration. Unfortunately, the pro-trade Clinton Administration is currently in support of the bill, as are five environmental organizations. Greenpeace, the National Wildlife Federation, World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense Fund, and Center for Marine Conservation are inexplicably supporting drastically weakening dolphin protection. However, US tuna processors are standing firm in their commitment to buy tuna caught without setting nets on dolphins.

Changing US law could have grave consequences for the dolphins that swim with yellowfin tuna in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. After all, for 30 years, dolphin populations have been horrendously depleted by disastrous fishing practices. Eastern spinner and northeastern spotted dolphin populations are currently estimated at only 44% and 23%, respectively, of original numbers. Even dolphins that are not killed in nets are subjected to chase by high-speed powerboats and to entrapment in nets, both of which are extremely stressful for dolphins. There is growing evidence that the physiological repercussions of this trauma may cause mortality never observed by IATTC monitors and cumulative long-term effects that may reduce reproductive success for those dolphins repeatedly chased and encircled. Further, dolphins with injuries, such as torn fins or broken jaws, would not be counted as "observed" dolphin mortalities. Naomi Rose of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) explains, "It is not simply a matter of direct mortality. The concept of 'take' encompasses more than killing. This type of harrassment may have serious physical consequences. Considering how severely depleted these populations are... this is not good management." Proponents of HR-2179 and S-1420 argue that there is nothing to worry about. Biologically, however, it is not known what numbers are needed for successful breeding and regeneration.

Thanks to the staff of Senators Boxer and Biden, and Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Gerry Studds (D-MA), the bills on the Senate and House floors are being watched closely to block any back-door deals. Earth Island Institute is working to stop passage of both HR-2179 and S-1420. By contrast, S-1460 would keep dolphin protections in place. S-1460 would also help to resolve trade issues by supporting research and observers, as well as giving further incentives to dolphin-safe fishers by allowing their tuna to be imported from countries that are currently embargoed.

In September, EII sponsored a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times condemning HR- 2179. Pierce Brosnan (of James Bond fame), Julian Lennon, and other celebrities joined EII in Malibu for an October fundraiser to benefit dolphins. Peter Coyote has narrated a television Public Service Announcement, and other public outreach plans are in the works.

We need your support in fighting the efforts to weaken US dolphin protections. Free trade at the expense of dolphins is a bad deal.

What You Can Do:


Ocean Alert -Winter/Spring 1996.

IMMP table of contents.

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