ViceZilla’s Views

In what amounts to a politically influenced decision, the US Government has arbitrarily tried to change the rules for foreign fisherman on “dolphin-safe” tuna.

Under current US law, companies could not market tuna as “dolphin-safe” if they caught the fish by purposely surrounding the dolphins with “purse seine” nets. Schools of tuna often swim beneath dolphins, thus making them easier to catch because fishermen can easily spot the dolphins as they come to the surface for air. The “dolphin safe” label means the tuna is fished using practices that protect dolphins.

Since the 1950s, purse seine nets have been used to increase the fishermen’s catch rate of tuna; however the nets have also reduced the numbers of certain species of dolphins as a result of “by-catch.” In 1990, the US Congress passed a law prohibiting companies from marketing “dolphin-safe” tuna if they used seine nets.

Since the enactment of the law, Latin American countries have lobbied the US Government for a less stringent rule to obtain the “dolphin-safe” label. The Latin American Officials are suggesting that if “observers on the foreign boats do not see or observe dolphins being killed or seriously injured,” then they will qualify for the “dolphin-safe” label on their products.

In other words, they are willing to turn a blind eye towards their own fishing practices using seine nets, in order to qualify for the “dolphin-safe” label. This statement is almost as laughable as the US Government buying into this scam, which the US secretary of commerce has.

Luckily, there are some smarter people in the US Federal appeals court. Chief Judge Mary Schroeder of the 9th Circuit said the U.S. effort was not based on proper scientific analysis on the impact to dolphins and was politically influenced. In the ruling, the court deemed the secretary’s findings “arbitrary and capricious.”

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