Memo: To Members of Congress
Subject: S. 1420 and H.R. 2823, Legislation now being considered by Congress, would change the official definition of "Dolphin Safe" that is currently in use to identify canned tuna for consumers, and would reopen the threat to dolphins from the tuna industry.
Date: February 26, 1996
As President of the Whale Conservation Institute, I have spent the past twenty-nine years studying whales in the wild. The Whale Conservation Institute is best known for its discovery that humpback whales sing songs, and that the calls of fin and blue whales can travel across oceans (a theory now being demonstrated to be correct). Our institute has trained many of the leaders in whale research and pioneered many of the benign research techniques now used around the world. Our research project on the behavior of Argentine right whales (now in its 27th season) is the longest continuous field study of a whale species in existence that is based on known individual animals (we recognize over 1300 whales). I have led over 100 expeditions to all oceans and have studied every species of large whale in the wild.
As a member (in 1989 and '90) of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council's Committee on Reducing Porpoise Mortality from Tuna Fishing, I had extensive exposure to the Tuna-Dolphin problem.
I am writing to present my concerns on the above-mentioned legislation because I believe it could have a strong negative impact on dolphins. I feel strongly that any legislation which fosters or legitimizes the practice of setting nets on dolphins is wrong. I believe that we must, instead, foster alternative fishing techniques which do not require severe disruption and danger to dolphin populations (several such techniques exist and are used successfully). It has been conservatively estimated that some dolphin groups spend as many as four hours per day fleeing boats from the tuna industry.
At present, a "Dolphin-Safe" label on a can of tuna means that the tuna was not caught by chasing, harassment, encirclement or capture of dolphins by tuna purse seine nets. It is a conservative and scientifically defensible definition.
A proposal, by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and Congressional legislation (S.1420 and H.R.2823) would weaken the definition of "Dolphin Safe." The current federal definition excludes the encirclement of schools of dolphins by purse seine nets. The new definition would allow chasing, harassing, encircling, and catching of dolphins by purse seine nets, as long as no dolphins were "observed" to be killed outright in the nets.
This new definition thus ignores the effects on dolphins of direct injuries, as well as the physiological effects from the stress of repeated capture. Dolphins released alive may later die from injuries sustained during chase and capture, and recent evidence suggests that stress from repeated captures disrupts dolphin societies and causes physiological harm. Despite the decline in observed dolphin deaths over the past five years, recent research suggests that the primary target dolphin populations have not shown any signs of recovering and that target populations of at least two species appear to be declining.
The proposed change of rules also raises questions about observer reliability. It is probable that dolphin mortality will occur during the chase and capture which, for various reasons, will not be detected by observers. For example, the nets are over a mile in length and the observers will remain on the main vessel during chase, deployment of nets, and final loading of tuna. Further, mixing of tuna in different holds aboard ship during trips risks confusion and encourages misleading reporting.
For all of the above reasons, proposed bills S.1420 and H.R.2823 seem to constitute a significant step backward in what has been one of the major achievements in the conservation of wild marine mammal populations living in international waters, and I do not believe that the re-definition of "Dolphin Safe" would result in procedures that were safe for dolphins, or that would be defensible on scientific grounds. I cannot support a policy that promotes the harassing, chasing, encircling, and capturing of dolphins in purse seine nets and calls it "Dolphin Safe", and I hope that the Congress will not support it either.
Thank you for your consideration of these concerns.
Sincerely,
Dr. Roger S. Payne
President, and Scientific Director
Call your Congressperson at 202-225-3121 and tell them to reject H.R, 2823 and support H.R. 2856
Call Newt Gingrich, House Speaker at 202-225-0600 and tell him the same thing, he can stop H.R. 2823
Call the President at 202-456-1111 and tell him to withdraw his support for the dolphin-death bills S.1420/H.R. 2823.
Dr. John Hall's letter to President Clinton
http://www.earthisland.org/immp/payne.html