PRESS RELEASE:
Netting Dolphins to Catch Tuna Harmful to Dolphin Populations
Scientific Studies Demonstrate Adverse Effects of Foreign Tuna Fleet
Posted by the International Marine Mammal Project on April 1, 1999
U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley and the Clinton
Administration are considering seriously weakening the standards for the
"dolphin safe" tuna label within the next few weeks. On April 1st, the
U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is sending a new study, only
parts of which have been made public, to the Secretary of Commerce, which,
by contrast, concludes that dolphins are indeed seriously harmed during the
catching, netting, and release of dolphins with tuna nets.
"Scientific evidence and common sense demonstrate that netting
dolphins to catch the tuna which swim beneath causes serious harm,"
explains David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute's International
Marine Mammal Project. "The Clinton Administration and the government of
Mexico and other tuna fishing nations would like Americans to think that
setting nets on dolphins is somehow 'safe.' But this technique still
kills 3,000 or more dolphins each year.
"Let us hope that the Clinton Administration does not cave in to
pressure and free-trade-at-any-cost extremists and approve a fradulent
'dolphin safe' label to fool American consumers," Phillips added. "The
Secretary of Commerce should listen to his own scientists and keep a strong
'dolphin safe' tuna label in place."
Within the next few weeks, the Secretary of Commerce must make a
finding on whether setting nets on dolphins causes "significant adverse
impacts." If the Secretary makes the judgment that there are NO
significant adverse impacts on depleted dolphin populations, then tuna
caught by chasing and netting dolphins could be labeled "dolphin safe," as
long as an on-board observer claims to see no dolphins die or be seriously
injured in the nets.
Scientists who are studying the issue have concluded that setting
nets on dolphins is causing many problems:
- Independent surveys conducted by both the NMFS and the
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission demonstrate that several targeted
dolphin populations, despite low reported mortality from tuna nets, are not
increasing in numbers and recovering as expected. Setting nets on dolphins
is causing unreported dolphins deaths from injuries and physiological
stress, and interferes with successful reproduction and rearing of young.
- Physiological stress has been documented in dolphins, which is
caused by the almost constant chase and capture of dolphins in nets in the
365-day-a-year tuna fishery. (Some schools of dolphins are chased as much
as four hours each day and are netted as many as three times each day.)
Says Dr. Albert Myrick, who studied dolphins killed in the tuna fishery for
the NMFS: "If the dolphins died from stress in the nets, then at least
some would be expected to have died before they reached the nets (and sank
unobserved). Furthermore, additional stress mortalities would be expected
to have occurred among dolphins after their release from the nets."
- The practice of chasing, harassing, capturing, and netting dolphins is a calamitous process, which kills 3,000 or more dolphins every year. How can such a practice be deemed "dolphin safe" by the U.S. government? U.S. consumers would never consider such a method of inflicting pain and suffering on any wild animal as worthy of the term "dolphin safe."
Recently, the three largest tuna companies in the world --
StarKist, Bumble Bee, and Chicken of the Sea -- have announced that they
will not weaken their current "dolphin safe" standards for tuna, regardless
of what the federal government does.
Additionally, sixteen biologists who have experience studying
dolphins have written to warn of the negative effects of setting nets on
dolphins.
"The label standards are crucial," Phillips concludes. "Under the
current standards, which bar tuna from being labeled 'dolphin safe' if any
dolphins were netted, dolphin mortality in the tuna fishery has declined by
97% over the past nine years. Commerce Secretary Daley and the Clinton
Administration should not be putting trade considerations with Mexico above
the wishes of tuna consumers, the U.S. tuna companies (which are all 100%
dolphin safe), and the mounting scientific evidence which shows
conclusively that dolphins are being harmed by this fishery."
Contacts: David Phillips (415) 788-3666 x145, Mark J. Palmer (415) 788-3666 x139
