(By the way - remember the anthropic principal? How about the phrase, "If a
tree alls in the forest and no one sees it, did it really fall?" Well the
government has now answered that question by stating that if no one sees the
dolfin die, then it IS Dolfin safe tuna!!!!)
Six years after Congress banned imported tuna caught by methods
that kill dolphins, the House voted 316-108 on Wednesday, July
31 to approve the misnamed International Dolphin Conservation
Program Act (HR 2823). This legislation lifts the embargo on
tuna caught with dolphin-deadly fishing techniques. In
addition, it defines downward to a weak international standard
the definition of "dolphin-safe" on the canned tuna we buy in
the grocery store.
Tuna fishers encircle dolphin in the Eastern Tropical Pacific
to catch the tuna that school underneath. Under US law, only
tuna caught without encircling dolphins -- for instance, tuna
caught using artificial lures -- gets the dolphin-safe label.
HR 2823 would change the definition of "dolphin- safe" to
include tuna caught by encircling dolphins, as long as no
dolphin deaths are observed.
Supporters of dolphin-unsafe legislation, including Reps. Wayne
Gilchrest (R- MD) and Duke Cunningham (R-CA), and five
environmental groups (NWF, EDF, WWF, Greenpeace and the Center
for Marine Conservation) believe we must weaken our
dolphin-safe law to reward foreign fishers for using techniques
that allow most dolphins to escape the tuna nets after they
have been chased and encircled.
Unfortunately, HR 2823 will increase dolphin deaths.
Inevitably, dolphin will die unobserved as speed boats,
dragging mile-long nets, chase them down over miles of open
ocean. Targeted dolphin populations, which are now depleted by
as much as 80 percent, may never recover if they continue to be
subjected to this harmful fishing practice.